I try to build some time into each project to let it sit for a while -- because I, too, find that after a week or two, things jump out at me. Not always small things like typos and a hero's eye color changing, either, but major plot problems and loose ends and holes. Places where I say, "What in heaven's name was I thinking when I wrote that?" If I don't get it when I reread my own words, the reader never will understand the point I was trying to make. (One of my classics is an engagement ring which I described as "a cluster of solitaire stones." Eh, what exactly would that be?Happily, it didn't get published that way.)
But sometimes there just isn't time -- the deadline is hanging too closely overhead. And I do find that no matter how long I take in revisions, after I send a book off, there's always one more thing I think of that should have been done.
This morning, I was talking to a proofreader about a non-fiction book my husband and I have just finished (it's a history of our hometown, illustrated with vintage postcards), and was my face red when she pointed out that I'd spelled the name of one building three different ways. All because I *didn't* let that manuscript rest a while and read it over again before submitting.
On the other hand, hurrying to get it in to the editor meant it'll come out six weeks earlier than originally planned, so perhaps it wasn't so awful after all.
Happy writing,
Leigh
But sometimes there just isn't time -- the deadline is hanging too closely overhead. And I do find that no matter how long I take in revisions, after I send a book off, there's always one more thing I think of that should have been done.
This morning, I was talking to a proofreader about a non-fiction book my husband and I have just finished (it's a history of our hometown, illustrated with vintage postcards), and was my face red when she pointed out that I'd spelled the name of one building three different ways. All because I *didn't* let that manuscript rest a while and read it over again before submitting.
On the other hand, hurrying to get it in to the editor meant it'll come out six weeks earlier than originally planned, so perhaps it wasn't so awful after all.
Happy writing,
Leigh
I've loved Mary Stewart since the day at age 13 or so I found "Nine Coaches Waiting." Wonderful book. I'm glad Hodder is republishing her, but I won't be buying them because I still have my original set.
And yes, Jenny, please do look up a bit from your own books where you use the place in a way that heightens the emotional tension -- and share it with us! (Personally, I like the Caribbean island where Jemima Dare finds herself...)
An example of mine that comes to mind is from TEMPORARY MEASURES. I'm going to quote the first couple of paragraphs from page 1, and then a bit from the last chapter. I used the pair of setting comments to show the enormous change in the heroine throughout the story.
Okay, here's how the book starts:
CHICAGO'S Magnificent Mile -- the mad bustle of pedestrians surging in waves down the sidewalks, the constant roar of traffic on North Michigan Avenue, the distant wail of a dozen sirens scurrying in all directions -- she had missed it all.
Coming home to Chicago was by far the best part of her frequent business trips, Deborah Ainsley thought as she made her way with the ease of long practice through the rivers of people on the sidewalk...
And here's the graf from toward the end:
CHICAGO'S Magnificent Mile -- the mad bustle of pedestrians surging in waves down the sidewalks, the constant roar of traffic on North Michigan Avenue, the distant wail of a dozen sirens scurrying in all directions. Once not so very long ago the city's busy roar had been Deborah's lifeblood. Now the packs of pedestrians gave her claustrophobia, and the noxious fumes of the cars and buses choked her, and the sirens made her head ache.
It's 150 words total, and it's there not only to help the reader see the Magnificent Mile but to understand Deborah.
It's a very important point Jenny makes there, by the way -- description for the sake of description is padding, but using description to illustrate character can be done with surgical precision and add much more than 150 words' worth to the reader's experience.
Happy writing!
Leigh
And yes, Jenny, please do look up a bit from your own books where you use the place in a way that heightens the emotional tension -- and share it with us! (Personally, I like the Caribbean island where Jemima Dare finds herself...)
An example of mine that comes to mind is from TEMPORARY MEASURES. I'm going to quote the first couple of paragraphs from page 1, and then a bit from the last chapter. I used the pair of setting comments to show the enormous change in the heroine throughout the story.
Okay, here's how the book starts:
CHICAGO'S Magnificent Mile -- the mad bustle of pedestrians surging in waves down the sidewalks, the constant roar of traffic on North Michigan Avenue, the distant wail of a dozen sirens scurrying in all directions -- she had missed it all.
Coming home to Chicago was by far the best part of her frequent business trips, Deborah Ainsley thought as she made her way with the ease of long practice through the rivers of people on the sidewalk...
And here's the graf from toward the end:
CHICAGO'S Magnificent Mile -- the mad bustle of pedestrians surging in waves down the sidewalks, the constant roar of traffic on North Michigan Avenue, the distant wail of a dozen sirens scurrying in all directions. Once not so very long ago the city's busy roar had been Deborah's lifeblood. Now the packs of pedestrians gave her claustrophobia, and the noxious fumes of the cars and buses choked her, and the sirens made her head ache.
It's 150 words total, and it's there not only to help the reader see the Magnificent Mile but to understand Deborah.
It's a very important point Jenny makes there, by the way -- description for the sake of description is padding, but using description to illustrate character can be done with surgical precision and add much more than 150 words' worth to the reader's experience.
Happy writing!
Leigh
