Friday, August 17, 2007

Why so many passes over a book?

A friend recently commented that four complete passes over a book seemed like an awful lot, particularly given that my basic writing skills are solid. As near as I can tell, however, four's the minimum. Here's how it breaks down:

Pass 1: Writing the first draft

This is far and away the hardest work, because this begins with nothing and must end with a complete novel, albeit one not ready for publication yet. I know some writers can stop here, but far more do so than are capable of doing it well. I do this pass on a computer unless I don't have access to one, in which case I'll write longhand and key it in later. (Power outages have necessitated this in the past on a few occasions.)

Pass 2: The massive clean-up

In the rush to finish the first draft, I make all sorts of mistakes. Some are simple: grammar errors, missing words, etc. Some are plot mistakes, often bits that were right when I wrote them but wrong due to changes I made later. Other errors require more work to fix, such as not being fully present during a scene or relaxing my imaginative concentration. I do this pass on the computer as well.

Pass 3: The sanity check

Up to now, I'm the only one who will have seen the book. At this point, I recruit the help of one very skilled reader (Dave) whom I trust to spot plot weaknesses I did not, give opinions on language, and generally provide advice designed to make the book better at being what I want it to be. Most of all, he tells me what's working and what's not.

In parallel, I print the book and do a complete pass on paper. Seeing it on paper is different than seeing it on the screen.

Pass 4: The fusion

I start with Dave's input and my hand edits. I make specific changes on the computer to address both. I then start at the front and read the whole book again, cleaning and polishing as I go. You could count this as two passes, I just realized, but I think of it as one.

Then, off the book goes to the editor, from whom I want absolutely no input. If I've done my job well, the book should be ready to go to print--and that's how I prefer it.

If the editor has input I must address, we hit Pass 5, of course.

Oh, yeah: at some point I'll receive a paper copyedited ms. (Pass 6) and at last the galleys (Pass 7).

Isn't writing a novel easy?

And I'm still on Pass 1 of Slanted Jack. Back to it!

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