Editing::Brief Update

It’s been several months since I posted anything about editing, so I thought it was about time for an update.

When last we heard from our intrepid Editing Heroine, she was working with author Christin Eubanks. In fact, Christin and I had just gotten the ball rolling on the editing process. Her book, the first in a planned trilogy, was not yet finished, but she was working diligently toward getting the rough draft wrapped up. We had a couple of meetings and many email conversations, and we both felt the project was progressing in a good direction.

Christin was able to finish the rough draft, I did a blow-through-it, front-to-back read of the entire thing (with copious note-taking), and we had a meeting. Quite a long meeting as it turns out. We talked through everything on my hit list, brainstormed on some development ideas, and came up with some specific ways for Christin to tackle the second-draft writing process.

After a hailstorm of rewritten chapters deluging my inbox, Christin took a breather and some time to refocus on family and life-not-involving-fiction-writing. She’s now back at it, with only a handful of chapters left to rewrite.

Once I receive “The End” it will be time for me to print, punch holes in pages, and put it all in my editing binder, ready for another blow-through-it, front-to-back read with copious note-taking. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the revised manuscript to see what developments have come about.

Meanwhile, in November of last year an old friend of my husband’s, Pete, came for a visit with his wife. I’d met her on a previous visit, but this was the first time meeting Pete. As it turns out, he was in the process of writing his first novel, and I offered to edit and proof it for him.

Upon returning home, he emailed the manuscript-in-progress to me. I did a very quick read-through, and gave him some general comments and ideas to keep in mind as he continued writing his first draft. As with Christin, I also asked for samples of books of the same genre that he enjoys, and which he would like to emulate.

So, while I await the arrival of chapters in my inbox, I have been reading novels. Not a bad way to spend your time.