It’s done!

Fifteen days ago I shared the news that I had finished a pass at my manuscript, but that I wasn’t celebrating yet because I had one final step to go. I’ve been a little quiet online since then, but I wasn’t just sitting around eating chocolate.

First, I spent seven days reading the story out loud (and recording myself). Then I took one day off (days off are important) before listening to that recording. Then I made one last, final final pass to correct all the little things I noticed as I read/listened to it and now it’s done!

Yes, it was tedious, but you know what? I found SO many little things that needed fixing. Mostly word repetition, but also consistency issues that I can’t believe I missed all the times I read it through silently.

The hardest part was sitting still while I listened to the recording. I needed to be at my desk, so I could make notes of what I wanted to come back to work on, but if my hands weren’t busy, I very quickly became distracted. My solution: coloring. And just to give you a sense of how much time this took, here are the pages in my coloring book that I completed in the last week.

Man it feels good to be done. I’m sending it off to my editor today!

And I’m giving myself a few days to chill before I start considering what might come next, but I’m already thinking about the 200 pages of a new novel I have stashed in my desk drawer…