Final Edits

I have been diving deep into edits. When it seems to be done an unsightly grammar error rears its ugly head. A whimsical sentence that once sounded profound now appears wonky. After having gone through with revisions to fill some gaps, elaborate, and create more depth where necessary along with cutting out unnecessary part the story is beginning to take its final steps to completion. I struggle to balance the natural lyrical style of writing that winds like a stream through collars and editing anything extra as if Vonnegut is whispering in my ear. Through a push and pull, along with 5+ options for the same sentence I think I’ve finally found ping-pong rhythm to straddle the line. I’m content and hopefully the reader will be too.

So, I’m in the final stages of this round of editing by me. I’ve recently heard of reading the entire piece backwards sentence by sentence. This was a whole new concept to me but apparently others, (my partner), were told this by a teacher years ago! (Like 20 years ago!) Where was I? Oh well — it’s useful insight now. It’s a bizarre way but incredibly useful. Errors previously overlooked as my brain filled or fixed now apparent. There are some parts such as dialogue where I read their entire blurb instead of the solo sentence to ensure it makes sense but otherwise I do recommend this process.

Then at the beginning of August, (or end of July), the manuscript will be sent to my editor ( Clarity Copy Co ) for copy and line edits. After I get those back it will be time for final FINAL edits because if we’re being honest, editing could never stop. There’s always something you could change, and before long you’re chasing your tail with 20 options for the same sentence staring at them all questioning which is “best”. This isn’t to say I’ll be finished with an unfinished piece but I trust my gut. I will know when it is ready and it really feels almost there. I can sense it’s almost ready to take the leap off the high dive.