I have restructured my MS, printed out the first chapter, gone through it word by word and identified the holes.
It has been an interesting process. First I read the whole in one go to get a feel of how it held together, marking any obvious weakness with a cross. Next I read it page by page with the eye of a critic. I have edited others' work before and found it easier than I thought. I just pretended someone else had written it. I patched and repaired as I went along in longhand.
Today I will be transferring my notes to screen. And that will be Chapter One.
My only gripe is the speed and cost of printing. It took an hour for my appallingly slow printer to spit ink on fifty-four pages. Eventually, I want to make three copies of my finished MS to send to three carefully selected individuals who have kindly agreed to critique it before I give the book its final polish. That means printing one thousand plus pages. Even as I type this, my printer looks faint.How do others manage to produce hard copies of their work? I am hoping I can do a deal at the place where I work. Tuppence a page if I supply the paper sounds fair. Doesn't it?
3 comments:
Sounds like you need a better printer. They don't cost much. Get one that doesn't just do Posh Copy - much faster to print in draft mode and perfectly readable.
I end up with one final printed MS, but email book to editor and they run off their own at the office.
Prior to that, when I used to send in hard copy, I'd get a spare photocopied at Kall Kwik - it's cheaper in terms of paper/ink/time.
You must have an antique printer! Does it have settings? Draft mode?
I do print at home but when it comes to a complete novel I also make use of work facilities. 180 double sided pages, spiral bound = £5.40. That feels like a very good deal. Office World wanted to charge nearly £30.
Judy, the printer is brand new! A Kodak 5100, bought 'cos they claim the ink cartridges are half the cost of others.
Cathie, £5.40 sounds a bargain - 1/3p per page!
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