The Good Old 80/20 Rule
This is actually from the Business World, but it's just as applicable to writing as it is to accounting or even tidying up your room -
“It takes only 20% of the effort to get 80%
of the job done, but it takes the other 80% of the effort to get the remaining
20% done.”
- which for you means you'll get your novel
80% finished with about 20% of the total work, but it's the last 20% of the job
that demands the greatest amount of blood sweat and tears. And without it
you're stuffed before you get out of the starting blocks. It's that final 80%
of the grunt that makes a Draft into a Winner. So embrace the next bit like
it’s a Game-changer!
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Edit Edit – EDIT !!
Over time I've become what many would describe as picky and obsessive. Pedantic. Borderline Perfectionist. I can NOT believe, after doing no less than six full edit runs of a “finished” novel, get it published, then find I've left behind three typos. Geez I HATE that. It's so unprofessional.
These are not earth-shattering typos - and “an”
that should be an “a” - an “it's” that should be an “its” (a perennial
classic), and a “though” that should be a “thought” - but they just grate on
you something chronic. And the trap is, the Spellchecker struggles to see them.
So, edit edit edit. If you possibly can,
get someone else to read it after you reckon you've finished, because you the
creator will develop a sort of tunnel vision.
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Put it under the bed
Even when you BELIEVE your manuscript is finished, put it under the bed for three months and don’t think about it, get on with your next project. This is the Maturation Period. Like red wine. When you dig it out you can see it a little more objectively, and THAT’S when you start the real editing.
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The BIG Rule of having your friends edit/review your work.
“If you can't say something negative, don't say anything at all.”
If they can't swear to do this then don't
give it to them to read.
Because, the thing is, you don't get accepted
by an agent or publisher from an accumulation of positives, you get rejected by
an accumulation of negatives. It's the negatives you need to know about. It's
the negatives that will kill you. Kill you stone dead. So you have to know what
you need to fix, and you can't always see this for yourself. Yes, it's just
your friend's opinion, but assuming they do a lot of reading of your sort of
writing (a must), take their constructive criticism on board and have another
look at it. Better them than an agent or publisher, because you don’t get a
second shot with them.
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