Writers tend to fall into one of two camps. The first are called ‘Pantsers’, the second are ‘Plotters’. The Pantsers start with an idea. Just an idea. Then let the story form in their heads. Characters talk to them, guide them through the story to its conclusion. Pantsers don’t know where the story their writing will take them and who they’ll pick up along the way. I’m a plotter. I have an idea. I expand the idea so I know how the plot develops and the story ends. Next, I think about the high’s and lows on the journey the reader will follow. At this point I pretty much have each chapter story boarded, I know who the main characters are and what’s going to happen. Then I start flushing the story out from the story board. Occasionally I’ll be writing and have an idea, the story then heads off in a tangent it was not originally intended. It’s all done to improve the story.
When I get to the end, I go through it again from the start and see how it flows and make changes. I spot continuity and plot errors. I filter out words which I’ve used repetitively or been lazy with my writing. I think about the chapter lengths and how they open and close for the reader.
Then I hand it off to my dedicated team of Beta Readers. My Beta Readers find typographical errors and sometimes gaping plot flaws. But above all, they give me their honest opinions of what they liked, didn’t like and whether they felt satisfied at the end. I do take my Beta Readers feedback seriously. One gave an insight which meant I deleted an entire chapter of one book and wrote four new chapters so the story made more sense. It was a joy when the original work and the new work finally came together. Some of my characters get to reappear later in a story or in another book, they may even have justice delivered when previously they’d got off scott free all from the feedback I receive.
Once all the Beta feedback is reviewed and the story amended, it goes into my proof reader and editor. This I find this to be a brutal process and can lead to either a broody silence on my part or howls of protest on my part. It isn’t helped that my wife is my editor and she’s even gone to the extreme of drawing maps to prove me wrong……But she makes good points and it is all aimed at improving the book for you. So I put on my ‘Big Boys Pants’ and take a concrete pill to harden up.
Out of editing, its a final read through, then upload for publishing and into your hands.