General TidBits in Cleaning up our Manuscripts

I’ve been writing about Cleaning Up Our Manuscripts. This morning I want to point out a few general tidbits for you to think about as you are in the editing/cleaning up/re-writing phase. That’s where I am now. Once I complete a first rough draft, where I let myself just write it out, then I start back at the top and read, making changes or notes as I go until I reach the end, then I do it again, and again….until I am “Done” – and then I print it out and read it for a different perspective….which always highlights more that I need to change or fix. And, as I said in a post below, now I have a bee buzzing round my pea-brain that tells me I will need to read it aloud as well. Then, once the publishers get the manuscript, they’ll read it (and I hope they love it – that has to happen, too), and they’ll have suggestions or find errors or whatever. And on and on it goes.

I recently read a novel that was almost all narrative. The writing was intelligent and beautiful and expertly crafted . . . but that is what I noticed: the writing. Personally, for me, I need dialogue to help move the story along and keep it energetic. Pages and pages of internal monologue or narrative frustrate me. After a while, appreciating the writing isn't enough to keep me reading, and I did what no writer wants: I put down the book. But I sure admired the writing . . . too bad. I could not stay engaged and the story plodded. A shame. I looked longingly at the book I’d just put down, but couldn’t bring myself to pick it back up.

I also recently read a novel where the word “had” was used so many times all I noticed was “had” – watch your use of “had” when you are describing a past event while in past tense . . . “had” can be a tic word! After a while, I was going “okay okay, had had had, I know what you mean, stop with the “had” already!


In the same vein, most of us have heard of the “repeater words” where we use the same word more than once in a sentence or paragraph—use your instincts or judgment and decide if what you are doing is effective or distracting . . . is used for effect, On Purpose. Remember I talked about how we do some things On Purpose, as a Device, in our writing. We are Aware.

I had a character in the very early versions of Tender Graces who wasn’t very nice (not Aunt Ruby). I went to town on this character—gave her a big mouth, bleached out hair, loud clothes, etc. I went on and on about this character. In re-writes, I recognized that I was “getting back” at someone from long ago. Someone I needed to vent about and never even realized how something had stuck in my craw. Well, MY vent did not belong in my novel. MY rant had no place in what would become Tender Graces. I ended up keeping a version of the character (Mrs. McGrander), but she became part of Virginia Kate's world and Virginia Kate's story, not mine. Be aware of when you are inserting yourself into your character’s world. If you are angry with someone or something, be aware that you do not use your novel as a forum for your own ideas or rants or anger—unless it really, truly does fit there.

As I always say: Write your draft with joy and abandon, but edit with that critical eye....be mean, be fearless, be aware.


And remember: enjoy all the process; enjoy all the moments. This is what you love.

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