Looking Back at the Book June 11, 2009

I’ll openly admit how much went into writing Markbearer. A ton. Yeah.

 

But, cleaning out my files to begin book two, I noticed some things I did during the process that I’m glad I did.

 

1. I used my Edit Cards system
   These were remarkable at keeping me on task and moving forward. They also made sure that each step was getting done, because I don’t allow myself to move on until that card is in the done pile. Can I tell you how much I love watching the done pile grow?
2. To Do List
   Every editing book/workshop/chat/etc tells you to read your book with a notebook next to you and write down the things to be fixed as you go. NOT to go back and find them and fix them right then. Yeah, I didn’t learn that during read thru #1, but I’m completely won over. It saves time AND sometimes what you’re going to change or fix gets adjusted as you get further along.
3. Kept a Cut File
   Killing those darlings hurts! So when you rework your manuscript and realize that you can use bits and pieces (or even an entire scene), it isn’t just time-saving, its
4. Tracking character growth
   There are several characters who are secondaries in book one, but who become main characters OR whose stories are key to the war going on in the series. To make sure they were complete, their stories were clear, fluid and consistent — I cut and  paste all the scenes for each one into its own file and read them straight through. You wouldn’t believe how much tweaking happened in this phase. A lot of stuff people may not have noticed b/c  it’s so spread out, but the characters and their stories are much clearer.
5. Minor character list
   I’ll admit it, I need a world/series bible…yeah, if you want to do that for me, drop me a line. No? Well, that’s not surprising.
   BUT, one thing I did do was keep a minor characters list. It helped me remember who the walk-ons were, what their role was, that their names (fantasy here, no Bob or Sallys) were spelled consistently. Also, if I needed a walk on character again, I went back to the list. There’s enough people in this world, it didn’t need someone more just to hold a door open.
6. Drew myself a map
   It’s bad. No one will ever see it but me, but I know what the world looks like. Mountains can’t move…well, in my book.
7. Sitting on it
   I had a 5 month period where I called it “done” and worked on something completely different. When people say you need to put your book away, all of us newbies go “I don’t have to” or “Two weeks is enough, right?” I can’t tell you how much it helped to put it away long enough that it wasn’t a fresh memory. Also, by switching out of that world…out of that GENRE… I came back to Markbearer with eyes so fresh that certain sections made me want to cry…sometimes good – sometimes not so good.

 

So, like every first novel, I learned some amazing lessons. And, no. I’m no where near giving up on this book. I have several partials, some fulls, and the revisions written by 2 agents (but requested by 3) out floating around. I’m excited about it again and using what I learned to make my next books go smoother from the beginning.

 

What lesson writing/editing lesson did you have to learn the hard way?