In 2020, I set myself three goals: 1) to finish my debut urban fantasy, 2) to prepare for the eventual publication of that manuscript, and 3) to blog about the journey. Needless to say, very little of that happened. I didn’t reach out to other authors in my genre, I didn’t choose a cover designer, I didn't find an editor, or build a separate author website, or work on my email list. And aside from my monthly IWSG posts, I didn’t post much at all. There were many reasons for this lack of productivity, but it all boils down to the first goal. I was so focused on actually finishing my story that I couldn’t focus on anything else. Every time I tried working on goals 2 and 3, I’d feel guilty. To be honest, my biggest non-writing accomplishment in 2020 was buying the domain name for my website.
 |
| 2020 is over! Yay! |
Well, it’s now 2021 and I’m happy to report that I’m only one short chapter away from finishing my manuscript. It’s been a long time coming (over five years by my count) and it’s a relief to finally be at this point. This means I can now focus on all the other author-related tasks I’ve been neglecting. And my first step is to find an editor. Fortunately, I already had a list of possible editors in my back pocket, so last week I sent the first ten pages of my manuscript to one of those editors for a sample edit.
This can be a daunting time for a new writer. You hand over your baby to a stranger and ask them to judge it. It’s not that I have a thin skin about my writing—I know there are lots of writers out there who are far better than me, and I’m fine with that—but I don’t want to hear that my words are completely hopeless either. My biggest fear is that the editor will come back and tell me that something needs to be fixed, but I’ll have no idea how to fix it.
So what was it like for you when you sent out your very first manuscript?
ChemistKen
You pick the right editor, and it will be fine. (I can name two good ones for you.) It's a little uneasy, but when it comes back and you read over the suggestions, you'll realize almost every single one will make the story stronger. And that's awesome!
ReplyDeleteThat's great that you are almost finished with your manuscript. That's the most important thing to focus on. Good luck finding the right editor.
ReplyDeleteOne more chapter and you'll be done. Don't forget a really good first round of self-edits looking for over-used phrases, passive voice, inconsistencies, and typos.
ReplyDeleteKudos on progress with your manuscript, Ken. It does feel like these take forever, doesn't it?
ReplyDelete