SUMMARY OF EDITS TO CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

My editor made very few pencil marks on the pages of this chapter. There was one instance of a missing comma to indicate a possessive, one instance of incorrect capitalisation, one missing word and one small typo. All of these were easy fixes and I should have spotted them before I sent the MS away. However, one thing I’ve learnt about self editing is that tired eyes don’t work as well as ones which have been closed for eight hours. Still, it seemed that there wasn’t much I needed to do to this chapter. Two minutes work and it would be perfect. Wrong!

This one involved a lot of rewriting. I kept the first four pages but added a lot more detail.

Then I cut the remainder of the chapter and pasted into a file I keep for this purpose. I would use this material in a revised format later on.

I then set about writing some brand new material which would introduce an additional character to the story. This character and the events surrounding them would enable me to show the reader things I had originally decided to hold back on. I had intended to reveal these things in a sequel. However, as my editor suggested that not revealing them detracted from the enjoyment of this story, I decided to add them in. One thing I have learnt is that good ideas don’t always come at once, so I’m sure I’ll be able to think up some new things for any sequels I write.  

This chapter in its revised format formed the catalyst for a brand new chapter where I incorporated some of the material I’d cut from Chapter 21. I also incorporated some material I’d cut from the middle of the story (in a revised form). This habit of filing away discarded material rather than just deleting it has paid off more than once. Sometimes it’s easier to rework something you’ve already written rather than try to reinvent the wheel.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, my MC was reactive rather than proactive in the original version. These changes helped to make her the true heroine she deserved to be.