Trail of the Firewriter 29

The day after finishing my book I sat in a chair and reread the entire menuscript. Yikes., I mispelled several words. I mixed up the names of two brothers critical to the plot. I repeated the same scene twice in the story. Some of my characters were not developed enough. I started to ramble about things not important to the story line. My book was in trouble. I had to correct these problems. I realized a complete rewrite was needed before I could approach a publisher. The joy of completing years of writing was jaded by the thought of doing a thourough editing of my manuscript. It was like diving into a pool of ice water. I fixed every error I could find. I read the book so many times I could recite it by memory. It was now perfect. I gave it to a friend and asked him to look for errors. He took the book in his hands glanced at a few pages and immediately found two spelling errors. I fainted. It took me another month to get the manuscript perfect. I was ready to find a publisher. What have we learned in this second step of writing a book? We learned that editing is probably the most important step in the process. A professionally done book should have no spelling errors. Sentance construction is important. If you are not good at these tasks, hire a professional. I was ready to get my novel published. (next post.Finding a publisher.)

Trail of the Firewriter 28

Well, what have we learned on this trip through Literature Land? Let’s sit under the question mark tree and reflect. First a shot of engine house coffee from my thermos to rev me up. The beginning of the expedition started as a lark. Like most of you I wanted to write a book about what has happened in my life. Starting with a rough outline I decided to make my project a fictionalized novel. My instincts told me it would be a better way to show the true heart and spirit of the people I worked with for most of my life. Relying on a limited knowledge of the writing game I started by doing a few pages every day. I sat before my computer typing my thoughts into that big square lighted window that sat in front of me like the jaws of a yawning hippo.The realization that I was not an expert in sentance construction, punctuation, or spelling was soon apparent. I struggled for three years. Many times I let my yawning hippo computer go hungry. There were no words to throw into his mouth. I knew what I wanted to say but making it interesting was challenging. For three years I paged through my dictionary, asked my super smart kids how to use quotation marks,and grappled with the sentance construction monster. All of a sudden the day came when I jumped to my feet and let out a howl that shook the building. I leaped into the air and spiked that last period into my computer to finish my book. To summerize step one in the long journey in Literature Land. Get started and do a little every day. The english classes you had in school must be recalled. Have a good dictionary handy. The computer can be your friend. Learn how to milk this knowledge cow. When your book is finished you are just starting the trip. The easy part is behind you. Open the door to step two. (next post)