On December 1st, I received the first draft edits of “I Knew Men” for my review. My double-spaced manuscript of 341 pages had been reduced to 170 pages, sized to fit a 6″ by 9″ paperback. I realize that text styling to make things look pretty is coming further down the road, but to see my story roughly laid out in this manner was truly a “whoa!” moment. Now, I’m tasked to make final changes.
CMS IS GOOD, BUT …
“The changes and suggestions made in the manuscript are based on the guidelines set by the Chicago Manual of Style (CMS), our foremost reference in copyediting ….We generally refrain from making any direct changes to the manuscript that may affect the meaning of certain passages or the author’s stylistic preference. However, we make direct changes for simple grammatical errors concerning subject- verb agreement, verb tenses consistency, word usage errors, etc.
In instances where we feel that direct changes may affect
your meaning or style, we opted to provide you with editing
comments and clarifications that can aid you in revising your
manuscript … “
To be honest, once my manuscript was submitted, I didn’t know what to expect. Now, at first glance, with fewer CMS corrections than anticipated, I’m left scrutinizing every sentence, every paragraph, every chapter — looking for other things that aren’t wrong from the Chicago standpoint, but could be better from this new Maine author.
For example, two characters say, “I don’t know how to say this,” when delivering bad news — one to a first person who then relays it to a second. Is this redundant, or is this how someone would naturally talk from one to the next? Would you even notice? It’s these types of decisions which remain. My baby, which had its arms and legs chopped off during the big editing process, is now going in for surgery.
TRUSTING INSTINCTS AND DRINKING COFFEE
Early in the morning, when I’m both rested and caffeinated, it’s a little easier to handle this process. As I review, I’m reminded of a quote: “the artist must know how far to go too far.” I keep telling myself to be brave and trust what’s written, but it’s tempting to overthink. If something needs a tweak, I pray it jumps off the page and slaps me in the face.
My publication director, Lyndie, reached out to me on December 8th to see how I was doing. I confessed, “This is like reading my novel for the very first time! In addition to your edits, I’m finding some things that I hadn’t noticed before. I’m not rewriting or anything like that — just going over with a fine tooth comb because now that I see what’s been done on your end, I realize more is needed.”
Lyndie responded, “The first draft edit review can most definitely be a bit overwhelming.”
Will it always be this way with a first review, or is this feeling of intimidation caused only because I’m so new at all of this?
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