Good morning it is time to make the list of things to keep an eye out for when doing a first read through of the completed manuscript. I know it seems harsh. The manuscript is just finished and here we are poking it instead of basking. Don’t worry the basking comes soon, we just need to do the first read through while the whole story is still fresh in the mind. So, what it is I will be looking for when I look over my Manuscript?
My Task #103
- Spelling of strange words
- I have an ongoing battle with spell check. Sometimes because I make up words or incorporate a separate language. I had Latin words in this one and spell check wasn’t happy. I also had to turn auto correct off because it kept trying to change my words on me. Which was not cool. I also have a few habits that I know are not spell check’s fault and that they won’t catch. When I am writing and a word ends or begins with a t or an s sometimes my brain shifts the space so ‘though the’ will become ‘thought he’ and ‘he said’ will turn into ‘hes aid’ which sometimes auto correct, if it is on will turn into ‘his aid’. It almost always involves a T or an S for some reason. Not sure why, but I know it is there and I need o address it.
- Chapter breaks
- I don’t always break a chapter in the right place when I am working, or I broke it where the story said, but the chapter was too short because I missed a point that needs to be added to make it a proper chapter or I thought I put a chapter break in and somehow forgot to add it so I will be working thinking that I am on chapter 5 but I forgot to break the chapter after three so three chapters will be one. Also sometimes I will break the chapter on the page, writing chapter at the top of a new chapter but forgetting which chapter I am actually working on and either putting the wrong number or leaving the number off planning to go back and fix it later. So those will need to be checked.
- Dialogue
- As I write I often earmark conversations that need to happen that I am not ready to write. Sometimes I go back and fix them the next day, but sometimes I forget and need to add them now. Also something I wrote later can affect what someone says earlier. and that needs to be added
- count down
- in this story my main character has a bunch of things that need to get done before an event happens, as a reminder there is a count down to the event and I need to double check I have the days counted correctly in the count down.
- repeat words and phrases
- there are days when a word or phrase gets stuck in my head and I plonk it down far too much. I need to go back and eliminate. The one I know I need to watch out for is ‘At the moment’. I’ll look out for other repeats, but I know that needs to be taken out.
- emotional ups and downs
- My protagonist goes on a rollercoaster of emotions in this story. She has to deal with a difficult family situation where habit, and responsibility to some pretty awful people need to be balanced against her own needs. Also she has to deal with retribution done against her, balancing protecting herself with obsessing over the situation. There is a lot of back and forth but in the end she needs to let go of past hurts and the people who will continue to hurt her. I need to double check the emotional pendulum to make certain that even with the one step forward two steps back moments it all builds towards the end.
And there we have it, the basic list I will keep in mind as I move forward, Task 103 is complete. See you tomorrow.
Ten til Midnight 