Post #110 February 5 2018

“Finishing the Race”

Recently, I finished the firsts draft of my next Farpool story, entitled The Farpool: Exodus.  In fact, by the time you read this, you should be able to download this ebook from Smashwords.com and other fine ebook retailers.  All of which has led me to ponder what we authors do to finish a book….is it ever actually finished?

To finish something means to bring it to completion, to attain the end of something.  Just as every author writes his or her story a different way, every author finishes a story differently too.  I have my own routine to follow and below I’ve reprinted a checklist I use called Next Steps.  This is a checklist I use not only to define what needs to be done to start a book, but also to make sure all bases are covered when I bring the book to a finish.  I’m going through this right now, with The Farpool: Exodus.

NEXT STEPS:

1. Complete any needed expansion of Outline of the Story, especially any Research Needs. DONE
2. Research details on sequence of events in a star collapse, or supernova.  Is Sigma Albeth B big enough to go supernova?  We’ll say it is.  DONE
3. Complete List of Major Players DONE
4. Background and personality sketches on major characters  DONE
5. Write Chapter and Scene Details DONE
6. Map of Atlantic seafloor near Bermuda DONE
7. Map and details of South China Sea DONE
8. Review biblical story of the Exodus  DONE
9. Review details of genome editing, amphibians and CRISPR techniques DONE
10. Started first draft: 14 September 2017
11. Finished first draft: 19 January 2018
12. Complete The Farpool: Convergence excerpt to add at the end DONE
13. Review and edit final DONE
14. Spellcheck 
15. Book descriptions DONE
16. Tag lines DONE
17. Word 97 version
18. Verify cover format USE JPEG!  DONE
19. Print final DON’T DO THIS

Let’s focus on steps 10 through 19.  The first 9 steps are related to research needs prior to actually starting the story.

Note that the first draft was written over about a 4-month period.  This is where I am now.  I’m reviewing and editing as we speak and should have this done by February 2, which is when you should have looked for the title to be available. 

Then note all the finishing details: spellcheck, book descriptions and tag lines (for Smashwords).  The distributor only accepts titles in Word 97 format, so that has to be done (takes about 2 seconds).

I have to make sure my book cover works and that it’s in the right format, sized properly for ebook distribution. 

As an indie author, I’m responsible for all editing.  That means in completing step #13, I have to read and re-read enough to make sure the story flows okay, that there aren’t any obvious holes or logical inconsistencies in the plot, that it’s engaging and intriguing enough to keep you turning the pages.  And, as this title is the third in a series of what will probably be five titles, I have to make sure I don’t say or so anything that is greatly at variance with what has gone before.  This requires managing a lot of details (take my advice: keep copious notes!).  Every author of series books faces the same issues and we all go about it different ways.

One other detail:  I’ve found it to be a good practice (and Smashwords promotes this too) to include at the end of one story an excerpt for the next story in the series, as a way of promoting and intriguing readers to keep their eyes open for the new stuff.  The next story in the Farpool series is called The Farpool: Convergence and I have done this…included an excerpt from Chapter 1 at the end of Exodus.  So I had to write that as well.  This one gets started on or around March 5 and should be available in the fall of 2018.

Plus, I’m working on correcting and re-formatting a scanned copy of a horror story (The Specter) which I wrote many years ago but which still reads as a pretty good story.  This one comes available in May 2018.  More finishing.

Writing a story is only half the battle.  Recently, we engaged in a major bathroom renovation at our house.  It took two months and there were times we thought it would never be done, although now it is and we’re happy with the results.  Fortunately, our contractor is a fanatic at finishing little details and making sure we were happy with the results. 

It’s true of bathroom renovations and it’s true of writing books as well.  It’s not really done until it’s finished.  With the Super Bowl in mind, I don’t mind telling you I’m an Atlanta Falcons fan and we know a thing or two about not finishing a job (see Super Bowl 51 in Houston, February 2017!).

In the next post to The Word Shed, I’ll cover some of the basics of building and sustaining suspense in a story, at least as I see it.  Look for this one on February 12, 2018.

See you then.

Phil B.