Thursday, March 19, 2009

Hallelujah It's Raining Edits!!!

Okay! The promised post!! I've been working really hard this week, so it has taken a while, but here is a very full, very long, very picturesque post on edits!!!

First off, for your viewing pleasure.:)



Welcome to my closet office! Yes, I work in a semi-organized mess!

So the first thing that happens with edits is that you get your ed letter (I am doing a whole post on that later this week since it's something a commenter wanted to know about. So specifics on the ed later will come soon. I promise!) I generally get mine via email. Even if Tara is sending me a physical ed letter, she always emails it to me first so that I can have it and have time for it to sink in, etc. So I generally read it a couple of times before I get started. Then, when I am ready to get started, I print it out. Then I go through and I look at every change and suggestion she has made, and I make notes about it. Agree, disagree, how I am going to change it, etc. I was so pleased with my letter this time. I kid you not, there was not a single thing in there that I didn't agree with. I LOVE it when it happens that way! But even if I agree, I still make a note of how I am going to fix it.

Then I move on to the marked up manuscript which contains both notes and line edits. (But mostly notes since a hefty chunk of the manuscript is going to change.) I do the same thing, I make notes beside every one of her notes with a brief description of how I am going to fix it.


Then, this year I did something a little different. I have a bunch of flags compliments of my lovely friend, Carrie Ryan, and I flagged every note that wasn't a line edit. That way, as I am doing my first pass through the manuscript I can follow along with Tara's notes and get more done the first time. So here is the marked up and flagged manuscript.



And I'd like to say that I have a special, organized system for what each color of flag means . . . but, um, no. They are just random.:)

Then I'm ready to get down to work! . . . Almost. I need my snacks:



And my drinks:




And, for inspiration, a bunch of second books from popular series!



Then . . . well, I'm afraid there's no magic of puffs of smoke in this section . . . I just work. I tend to go chapter by chapter, in chronological order. I'm on chapter three. Hehehe. *fail*

Actually, it's really not fail as I wrote the first two chapters almost completely from scratch. So it really is a lot of work behind me! But unlike last year when I finished my revisions in just under four weeks, I suspect this time it will take almost the whole six weeks that I have. The nice thing about that is that once I am finished, I will be about two weeks away from the release of WINGS and will be able to really concentrate on that!

Wish me luck!

Ciao!

10 comments:

Jessie Oliveros said...

It sounds like a lot of hard work, but who ever said writing was easy? I'm glad you will be finished before your release. Then you can just sit back and enjoy. I'm looking forward to the post on the ed letter.

Unknown said...

How exciting! It is almost like we are on the journey with you! What an adventure!

Hoontah said...

That was an amazing post. Thoroughly, informative. There is so much work involved in publishing a book. Thanks for sharing the journey.

Martha Flynn said...

woohoo for root beer! add a scoop of ice cream and it'll get you through anything.

JKB said...

Good luck good luck!!

*LOL*

Aqui Wolfe said...

^_^ Good luck, hon!

It was fun to see your workspace!

Ronald L. Smith said...

Thanks for this post. I love these little sneak-peeks at the ed. process.

Anonymous said...

thanks for sharing. I love your sense of humor LOL!!

Michelle Zink said...

Your desk looks veeeery familiar indeed! I'm impressed you have such an organized system. I have a system of sorts - but I use that term loosely. Heh.

I just sent my revisions in yesterday after five solid weeks of eating, sleeping and breathing them. SO different from revising after you've already been through some revisions with your agent, huh?

Good luck, Aprilynne! And at least you have snacks. That makes everything better...
:D

Why Not? Because I Said So! said...

I love your work space! It makes me feel good because it looks like mine! Good luck. You will do a great job like always.