I thought I'd put out a quick update on
the status of 'Swords of the Damned'; I have now finished the first
draft, and the beta readers seem happy with it – which means that
the only step now is the bit I hate the most, the redrafting stage.
This requires concentration and focus over an extended period to rid
the text of typos, polish some of the speech, take out duplicated
words, and correct any errors. (At one point I had a fighter pull a
sword from his holster.
Heaven knows what was running through my mind there!)
I tend
to take it on a chapter-by-chapter basis, going through each one
twice. Scrivener makes this a lot easier – I admit it, I'm a real
Scrivener fanboy – as I can compartmentalize all the text far more
easily, mark which parts I've been through, and so on. Two
run-throughs, then and that usually knocks out the errors, then I let
the computer take a look.
Never
rely on a computer spellcheck. Never
do it. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't do
it. There are two things I find it excellent for, especially with
fantasy, funnily enough. The first is that it provides yet another
level of checking, and one not reliant on a tired human eye; usually
it still catches a couple of words. (I'm British writing in American
English; often that tends to be what trips me up!) The second is
consistency of character names – simply plug in the correct
spelling of a name, and you'll have a much better chance of catching
it out.
I've
got the cover art on the way, and no-one will be surprised to know
that it is being done by the splendid Keith Draws; as soon as I get
it back, I'll be posting it here on the blog, naturally, and I'm
really excited about this. Then...well, once the redrafting is done
and the cover is in...the ebook will go live. I'm hoping somewhere
around the 29th
or 30th
at this point as a target date. By then it's going to be a real
relief! A lot of people find it terrifying to push that 'publish'
button, and I did myself the first time, but I'm coming to a point
that I find it exciting – to see what other people will think of
the book, and to signal that it is, indeed, time for the next one to
begin!
OK, I
still find it terrifying as well! I suppose I should get back to work
now...
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