Just When You Think You’re Done – Part II
Old City Jerusalem
It seems to me that writing is a never-ending process. Some friends of mine recently moaned about “line edits.” And they’re not published yet. Neither do they have an agent or an editor. So what are they doing? Making their manuscript the best they can to give their story the best chance to get published. They have critique partners and beta readers who are helping them edit their work.
I don’t have a critique partner or beta readers, but I had my manuscript professionally edited twice. And still, I’m revising. I think I mentioned that after my meetings in St. Louis, I could expand my manuscript from the shortened version I’d had to make it in order to enter a contest.
But like these doors and covered walks in Old City Jerusalem, it never seems to end. I’m working with two versions of my manuscript, the shorter and the longer – to make them both longer. The longer needed to reach 100,000 + words. I made it yesterday, but I decided to tweak it again. Add richness.
I did enjoy researching the Underground Railroad as part of my expansion process. Remember I talked about Jackson, the Negro porter/ticket agent? He’s so pleased that I have agreed to begin his story in Meghan’s Choice, that he pointed me to his “real” counterpart yesterday – a guy named Jackson Turner. I’m fictionalizing his story, and it becomes “my” Jackson’s story in Meghan’s Choice. Maybe in a couple of weeks, I’ll post an interview with “my” Jackson.
So – I’m back at the manuscript again this week. Expanding instead of contracting – hopefully making the story richer, and more enjoyable. Thanks for sharing my writing process with me.
And – if you’ll look at the Menu bar, I’ve added a new page called Meghan’s Choice. Check it out. Right now, it’s a teaser, but soon, more content will be added, and maybe even the first few pages. My character interview with Jackson will be under that topic.
Those of you who are writers, how is your writing coming? What are you working on? I’d love to hear from you.
Donna L.H. Smith 