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How many times do you re-read your manuscript before publishing?
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Lan
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Mar 27, 2017 08:59PM
Am I the only one who re-reads my manuscript at least a dozen times before I send it to the editor? Anyone else have a difficult time letting go because you think you might be able to add another crucial detail?
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I reread my first one more than a dozen times, and re wrote probably ten times before hitting the publish button. Even now, if I went back and reread it again, I would probably change more. I am having the same problem with #two. Every time I finish a rewrite, I head right back into it for another one :O
Thank you!!!! I'm so glad I'm not the only one! I drive myself crazy with my obsession. I, too, have gone back to my first book and rewrote it. If only those nasty reviewers could know how much time and effort we put into our books, they'd be more mindful of their words.
Lan wrote: "If only those nasty reviewers could know how much tim..."somehow I doubt it, lol
I lose count of my re-reads. Every time I find more typos and more things to add or a different (better?) way of saying something :) I would really like to re-do my second book, as it is poetry it would be easy (though expensive) to bring out a new edition.
My first novel I went through 7 drafts before handing it over. The 8th draft ended up being the final one before formatting it for ebook consumption. I don't plan to do as many for the sequel. All of the changes after my 4th draft were very minor.
I lost count of how many times I went over my novel. I also had an excellent critique group who also went over it several times.
Nathan, sadly, you're probably right:(I'm truly glad to hear that I'm not alone. I know several writers who will glance at their writing once or twice and then they never look back. How???
I could never do that, and can't imagine anyone else doing that, though I know they claim they do. And, maybe they do. They just have a better grasp on what is publishable.
The only times I actually re-read it was in revisions and when I was editing. I recently did a proofread pass over. Backwards.Boy did I find a LOT I had missed.
People say the danger in being too familiar with your own work is you tend to gloss over the mistakes and don't see them and this certainly proved it to me. You need to stop at some point.
C. Bilici, I would have to agree with you. My mind starts to fill in the correct words or miss spelling errors or typos. It's good to stop and then revisit.
Lan wrote: "C. Bilici, I would have to agree with you. My mind starts to fill in the correct words or miss spelling errors or typos. It's good to stop and then revisit."Yeah, you have to take a step away from it for a while for it to become even semi-unfamiliar.
Dozens. Plural. I lose count. I read through the whole thing a number of times, and I edit a chapter at a time where I may read the same chapter three or four times before moving on to the next one. A few people have mentioned taking a break and coming back to it later. I do that too. Getting some space between drafts is helpful. Otherwise your story gets too familiar and you don't notice everything.
lots. And I definitely found problems in doing that as well. I've read it straight through constantly ten times my last one, then set it down for a week or so and thought I'd go over it again. I would find the simplest errors that I couldn't believe I missed the last ten times around.
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Probably re-read a dozen times by now.Was hoping to have only 4 drafts, but currently on my 6th. And the way it's going, I'll have 2 more to go, hopefully.
