Morning all Yesterday our task was to look for the obvious things we knew had to be fixed in the manuscript. For me it took a little longer than the usual hour or so I have been giving to this project each day. I didn’t actually intend that, it is just that once I got going I decided not to stop. It was also a quiet night last night so I had the extra time. (I had to switch my tasks back to the evening, mostly because I don’t edit very well in the mornings. For me mornings have always been about new ideas and getting the brain moving. It is not a time I need to check comma placement. So I do editing based tasks later in the day. I’m sure you will do whatever works best for you. But maybe take a little time now to figure out if you do have a preference. We are only doing a first read through of our very rough draft at the moment, but later when we get into the full editing process it will be handy to know if you do have a preference.
But for now, we are on to the task.
Task #105: Sit down with your manuscript as an entire thing and start at the beginning, Read to the end, fixing problems along the way. Fix all the little problems, mark the bigger ones to come back to after the read through.
I know that sounds daunting, just remember this is also the task for Thursday and Friday as well. So it is a three day read through.
Before you begin. Make sure you have a list of any special words you used in your manuscript. These can include words in other languages, words you made up, the specific spelling of place names and character names. Have that handy list so you can make sure they are spelled consistently throughout the document.
What you are looking for in this read is predominantly plot gaps. It could be a small thing you changed later on. It could be that when you moved from one part of your story there is a rough transition. This is your chance to find it. If it is something simple fix it as you go. If you notice something that needs a little thought, highlight it and make a note. Think about it as you work. We will come back to it, but for now you are seeing how the manuscript reads as a whole.
As always, happy writing.
Ten til Midnight 