Yesterday, I used the WORD's handy feature to listen to my book. This great tool helped me finesse the final (hopefully) edit of my first novel. It allowed me to pick 'the lint and sticky stuff' out of my book. Many writers praise the exercise of reading your work aloud. This practice doesn't work for me. I substitute missing words and read words that don't exist. WORD reads the story as written and it is written. This editing drill helps on multiple levels. I find sequencing errors, conversation gaps, missing words, verb incongruities, just to name a few.
After reading articles, collecting checklists, eliciting beta readers, hiring an editor, and listening to my critique group input, my novel reach its final stage. Yes, there is a cover to finalize, acknowledgements to write, a synopsis to polish, a summary to hone, but this book no longer needs my full attention.
My novel may be ready, but there is still much to do. My marketing plan needs tweaking not to mentio…
Run Away by Harlan Coben
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