Back to the Future

Time to return to the 21st century, I think.  Over the weekend I completed the draft of Book 3 (67,000+ words) so it is time to go back to revising Book 2.  The plan is to revise and polish the novel so that is ready for release by the end of the year.  That should be possible, but we'll see.

The method I used for writing Book 3 was very old school; I was chained to my desktop computer typing.  There is no point to that in an age of mobile devices, but the iPad keyboard does not work well for typing.  I make many more typos that I would at my desktop computer.  I have since purchased a wireless keyboard for the device so perhaps the iPad will work out better for Book 4.

The technique I'm using for editing Book 2 is one of my own devising.  I read it on my Kindle and make notes.  Then I transcribe the notes to my draft on my computer.  This is a little labor-intensive but it worked really well for Book 1 and avoids the need of editing on paper.  I want to avoid using paper and printer ink for environmental reasons.  That's why I devised another approach in the first place.  It also seems to me to the way to go in the future.  I'm thinking that printers attached to computers may very well be as obsolete now as typewriters.

Theoretically, if I want a less labor-intensive approach,  I should be able to edit the draft of my novel on my iPad more easily.  The problem is edits are not setoff in anyway, the way one might Track Changes in Word.  And I need to track my edits so I can review them after I make them.  Only in this way do I know if the edit is right and does what I want.

As you can see, I am taking a lot of care in the editing process -- perhaps too much.  But I think it is worth it.  I need to make sure the text says what I want to convey and that is often hard because English is such a blunt instrument.  Nevertheless, this is how I got Book 1 to sing.  And this is how I will polish my work.

And in case you are thinking of trying this yourself, please don't.  My methods work for me because I am the one using them.  You will need different methods because you think differently and have different associations.  So experiment and see what works for you.