Oops! I Did It Again…
The Red Sun: Legends of Orkney
Do you find yourself writing the same story over and over again? You change the names of your characters and the color of their eyes, but underlying your heroes and villains is a typecast, a typical set of traits that you trot out: same story different plot. As writers we often find a pattern in our words, a sense of routine and rhythm that is comfortable like a pair of old shoes. It’s even more challenging when you’re writing a series. The first book is always the most novel and entertaining. It’s difficult to raise the stakes enough in each successive tale to keep the reader on the edge of their seat. The shock factor of The Hunger Games could hardly be repeated in the do-over sequel Back In The Arena (aka Catching Fire). The story feels a bit stale and rehashed. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed all the books, but there is nothing quite as tantalizing and exciting as that first taste of blood. One of the exceptions to this was the Harry Potter series not just because Harry kept getting older each year, allowing for his character to develop and his challenges to increase in intensity, but because Rowling masterfully reveals her villain piece by piece, never allowing us to see Voldemort fully-formed until the end.
Finding ways to raise the stakes is only one challenge an author faces. Another equally onerous task is weeding out every possible mistake, because I am here to tell you that if there is something inconsistent, repetitive, misspelled, or just plain wrong in your manuscript, some reader out there will find it and let you know. Gleefully so. Recently a reviewer of The Red Sun pointed out that in spite of five different editors going through the manuscript, in spite of countless proofreads, in spite of repetitive-phrase-checker programs run, I let my main character Sam feel like “a lamb led to slaughter” not once but twice in the space of a few pages! Obviously it was a mistake, but I should have caught it. My system of checking and double-checking somehow let me down. And that is indicative of the indy writing process: no matter how hard we try there are bound to be mistakes. This underscores the value of the heavy-duty editing process afforded by the traditional publishing houses who have multiple sets of eyes reviewing manuscripts before they are published.
I can take the criticism with a sheepish and embarrassed grin because ultimately the story has to win out, not one careless repetition, but it reminds us that no matter how much we polish and buff we will always find mistakes. How to avoid? Don’t skimp on editing. Do run a good repetitive phrase checker. There are programs that will do it much better than your naked eye. Listen to your book aloud, your ear will catch many of these mistakes. And when someone points it out to you, don’t cringe. The best authors make these mistakes every day and it’s only for the grace of their editors that they aren’t published for the whole world to see.
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