TIME FOR A CHANGE
For the past six months I've devoted all my energy to editing Truthseeker to the best of my ability. It certainly paid off as a sample resulted in a request for the full MS by an agent. What the outcome of remains to be seen.
My second novel, Secret of Heathcote Manor has taken a back seat for as long as I can remember. It is, in my opinion, a much more saleable story than my first, but I've just not had the desire to edit it until now.
I took a look at it yesterday and the errors just jumped off the page. On the one hand, I cringed at the sight. On the other, I realised just how far I've come since I wrote it.
Today I finally bit the bullet and set to work. The first thing I did was to copy the whole MS into a 5x8 template, which I downloaded from CreateSpace. For reasons, I'm unable to fathom, I seem to be able to work better on a draft in this format. Perhaps it's because it looks more like the finished product.
So far I've worked through the first two chapters and highlighted all of the changes. I do this so I know what needs to be changed in the conventional MS copy, which is the format used when querying. Usually, I just call up the two documents and do the amendments individually. In the case of the chapters I've edited today I'm going copy and replace to save time.
When I began editing Truthseeker I thought it would only take a month or two. In light of my experience I expect to be editing this one up until Christmas. I might surprise myself and get it done before then. If I do then I have one more novel to edit before I need to think up any new material.
My second novel, Secret of Heathcote Manor has taken a back seat for as long as I can remember. It is, in my opinion, a much more saleable story than my first, but I've just not had the desire to edit it until now.
I took a look at it yesterday and the errors just jumped off the page. On the one hand, I cringed at the sight. On the other, I realised just how far I've come since I wrote it.
Today I finally bit the bullet and set to work. The first thing I did was to copy the whole MS into a 5x8 template, which I downloaded from CreateSpace. For reasons, I'm unable to fathom, I seem to be able to work better on a draft in this format. Perhaps it's because it looks more like the finished product.
So far I've worked through the first two chapters and highlighted all of the changes. I do this so I know what needs to be changed in the conventional MS copy, which is the format used when querying. Usually, I just call up the two documents and do the amendments individually. In the case of the chapters I've edited today I'm going copy and replace to save time.
When I began editing Truthseeker I thought it would only take a month or two. In light of my experience I expect to be editing this one up until Christmas. I might surprise myself and get it done before then. If I do then I have one more novel to edit before I need to think up any new material.
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