Those of us who love to write often forget the amount of work necessary to bring a project to completion. I spoke with a fellow writer recently who is in the process of re-writing a book he self-published a year ago. Disappointed with the sales he decided to take a closer look at it. Before he published it the first time he had a friend read it through for typos and glaring mistakes, but he was so eager to get it on the market and get on to the next project he didn’t put much effort into fine tuning.
Reading through it a year later he was appalled by what he discovered. No wonder it didn’t receive the response he had hoped it would receive!
Many Late Blooming Writers are so eager to get their words in print, that they often don’t put the hard work into a manuscript to adequately prepare it for publication. After all, they’ve waited a lifetime to get the courage or time to complete their manuscript, once it’s done it seems the wait should be over.
The hard work involved in writing is more about developing patience and personal discipline than it is about writing itself. We love to write! That’s the easy part, and that’s why we do it. If you’re simply writing for yourself then that’s where it ends, but if you hope to publish or want to make an income writing, then it becomes necessary to put a little more elbow grease into the process.
Before you submit a piece for publication, make sure it as clean as possible. Depending on what you are writing and where you submit it, the publisher may do some editing once a manuscript is accepted, and will overlook some things, but it is always to your advantage to offer the best possible work you can.
Hire an editor. If you cannot afford an editor ask anyone you trust for a read through. Bake them a batch of homemade cookies if that helps ease your conscience. Join or create a reading group where it is understood that members help each other in this way.
Resist them temptation to submit too soon or too fast. Letting an article sit for 24 hours or even a week or two can help you pick up glaring inconsistencies and poorly worded sentences on your own re-read. For a book manuscript, the wait may need to be longer, six months or more.
The creative process takes time, and I have found it helpful to recite the mantra, “There is time enough. If it is meant to be, it will be.” Then, I get back to “work”.
