One journey ends, and another begins.

The final light approaches; after over five years of unceasing toil my novel is almost ready. I bought a feedback package from the Jericho Writer’s organisation, and although the editor suggested a few tweaks he enjoyed my work. I’m happy with the story and characters, and will hire a line editor to add a final polish to the individual sentences and I’ll engage a proof-reader. My friends will have a chance to see the manuscript (which includes you wonderful newspaper readers). Delays are always possible, but I hope to publish on Amazon in February 2020.

Producing this novel has been the hardest task of my life, but I’ve reaped rewards. My writing is clearer, I use fewer words, my thinking is sharper, and although I’ve lots still to learn I believe I’ve passed the apprentice stage. I stored earlier versions of my novel, including the first draft from 2015. Re-reading is both educational and painful; I can see I’ve improved, but the gap between now and then gives me vertigo.

Numbers can prove my point. Modern automatic editing tools such as ProWritingAid can count ‘Sticky’ or ‘Glue’ words – examples are ‘and, of, for, was’, etc. Some glue words are necessary, but if they make up over 40% of your writing you need to consider trimming.

My first draft was 51.2% glue words. Learning the trade reduced that to 43.7% for my second draft, but I kept going; my current score is 38.3%. The refining process started by looking at my writing and being clear in what I wanted to say, and cutting out words wherever possible. That improved matters, but I needed more. I wrote a list of glue words on a card and searched for each word in my current chapter. Did I need that particular glue word? Could I use a stronger verb and ditch the adjectives? Again I saw progress, but my percentage still hovered around 43%. I’d reached a stage where cutting further glue words made my sentences unreadable.

The editor I engaged runs sessions on writing effective sentences, and one of his guidelines is ‘Ingenuity’ – words must work. Metaphors and images conveyed ideas efficiently; I had described a woman’s presence as arresting, but changed this to ‘a splash of ice water on a sweltering day’. One scene had characters battling through a rainstorm at night and encountering an unexpected set of distant lights. My first version said ‘And ahead, there was a dim cluster of lights, barely visible in the darkness.’ (50% glue). My final version has ‘An upright rectangle of golden light bleared through the rain.’ (40% glue). Strong verbs and precise images clarify everything.

Data shouldn’t dictate word choices, so I’ll keep a glue word if it clarifies a sentence, but I believe I’m progressing. I’ll keep you informed of progress, and my next newsletter should detail a gift for you all.

As always, my blog remains at kevinelliott.space

One thought on “One journey ends, and another begins.”