The great joy of writing a novel is to see your work actually go on sale to readers. Whether it is in bookstores or on a library shelf or available for sale online, the moment you see your book available to readers will make just about any writer smile. Finally the book will be viewed by others beyond you, your critique partners, your friends and family and the editor from your publisher.
Your work may be criticized by readers and given good or bad reviews, but it is out there. It makes those long hours of coming up with ideas, finding just the right words and then struggling with the editing process all worthwhile. But the editing process can get you down. That's where you see all the problems with your work. The places where you make a typo or say something the wrong way all comes suddenly flashing in front of you. Small things that you missed suddenly starting flashing like bright red lights.
A good editor can make all the difference in the world, and working closely with an editor can make your work much better than it started out to be. My book editors have been very good, not only at helping me fix my work to make it better but they have also given me encouragement as I work on my next book.
But there are other steps you can take to make your writing better even before it gets to the editor.
1. Read over your work as you finish the day. Perhaps save the last 20 minutes of your allotted writing time to the editing process. That can help you finish the day on an up note, or you might even look it over before you start writing the next day. That way your words and plot are firm in your mind when you start writing the next scene or chapter of your book.
2. Read your work out loud. This was a habit I formed when I was working in television news. Of course it made sense there because our stories were going to be read out loud and we needed to make certain the copy was error free so a simple mistake didn't catch the anchor by surprise while reading it live on the air. Reading over character conversations out loud is especially important. Is how you are phrasing a sentence the right way someone would speak? Not everyone talks alike. Are you showing that in your writing style and in the conversation the characters are having? A teenager and an older person probably won't be the same. How does the conversation sound?
3. Make a list of problem words or phrases that you can go back and check as you write. Are you using the same words over and over? We all have those small phrases we sometimes fall back on without realizing it. A good editor will point these out, but why let it go that far? Look for them yourself and fix the problems before the story ever goes to an editor.
4. Don't be afraid to take a writing lesson every so often. No matter how much writing we do, it always helps to have a refresher course in either grammar or writing dialogue. Sometimes we often fall into little traps or the problem of making all our writing sound alike. There are some popular bestselling authors that I read that I often find myself looking for some of the same issues they have exhibited in other books. Make certain your writing is the best it can be.
I've taught many writing classes over the years, but I still often take writing classes just to stay up on the latest writing styles and to make certain I'm not falling into old bad writing habits
5. Don't lose sight of your goals and become discouraged. We all want to write the best book and we want readers to enjoy our work or to find some value in it so they keep coming back. We can get to that point if we keep writing and keep working toward being a better writer with every story we turn out.
Finally, if you want to become a published author, don't give up. These days you can publish yourself, but if you do, you still want to build a reader base so work hard at your craft and make every story the best it can be.
Happy writing!
