Read Around the Rainbow: After “The End”

Read Around the Rainbow is a blogging project featuring yours truly, A.L. Lester, Ofelia Gränd, Holly Day, K.L. Noone, Amy Spector, Addison Albright, Fiona Glass, Lilian Francis, and Ellie Thomas. Every month, we pick a topic and then we blog about it. Check the other blog posts by clicking the RAtR widget in the sidebar, or the links at the bottom of this post.

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The August RAtR topic is After “The End.” What does that mean, you might wonder, and it’s simply what happens after an author has written the magic words The End in their current WIP. Lots of things happen after the first draft is finished, of course, like revising, self edits, fighting the urge to throw the manuscript in the pool because it sucks so bad, complaining to your author friends how much you hate every little word of the story after having read it five gazillion times to make sure it’s not a hot mess, just to mention a few things. But it’s not either of these I want to write about (I also don’t want to write about blurb writing, or marketing or any of the other boring things.) No, I want to write about my beta readers and my editor.

Because after I’ve revised and edited and edited some more, I send the manuscript to my beta readers, thinking surely they won’t find anything, surely this story is as shiny and well-polished as it can get. Surely?

Hah. No.

The best thing that can happen to a manuscript is a fresh pair of eyes, eyes that haven’t read every single word again and again and again, eyes that are on the lookout for…things. All the things. Small things, like a missing comma, or writing ‘their’ where it should be ‘they’re.’ Noticing a third arm suddenly showing up where there should be only two, eye color changing during the story, or overusing a word or a phrase. Or major things, like plot holes.

My beta readers are experts at finding things like the ones I’ve listed above. And I say beta readers, plural, because I firmly believe more than one is needed. Different people notice different things, have different reading styles and -tastes which will influence how they perceive the story. What one of them may find romantic, the other might think is illogical and weird. One of them will point out a place where they find a character extremely rude and/or annoying, but the other one doesn’t mention it. One of them will google constellations and the location where my story is set to make sure the right stars are visible on the night that my story takes place, but that isn’t as important to the other one.

So that when both of them suddenly have the same issue, when they both point out something and say “Hey, Nell, wtf is going on here?” it’s time to listen, really listen. I don’t always agree with them and I don’t always take their advise, but I always give it careful consideration. Because after going through their feedback, after editing the manuscript yet again, that perfectly polished story I sent them is always better than it was when they first got their hands on it. Without fail.

A story without beta reader feedback is like a burger without onions = completely worthless. (And if you’re one of those weirdos who doesn’t like onions, just replace it with your favorite thing to put on a burger and you’ll get my point 😁)

And then, when the story is yet again re-polished to perfection (HAH!) it’s time for the editor.

The first time I sent a story to an editor, I was scared to death of the dreaded red pen. I feared the person would get back to me and say “Sorry, Nell, it was a good effort, but it’s completely unsalvageable, even for someone with my superior skills,” especially considering English isn’t my first language. What I got back wasn’t bad, nowhere near what I feared, but the nervousness lingered for a long time.

Nowadays, though, I look forward to the edits. I’ve had the same editor since 2018-ish, and he’s great. We’ve worked together for so long that I trust him and his opinions, and after editing my stories for so many years, he’s learned my writing style. So whenever he suggests changes, he takes my style into consideration and will use words and phrases that I would use.

The poor man also has to add so many commas (because comma rules are different in Swedish and English) and correct prepositions (again, because of language differences), and he always, always highlights whenever I’ve repeated the same word too many time (because he knows I hate it, but at this stage, I don’t catch it myself).

After he’s done, the manuscript is as polished as it’ll ever be, because the next step is publishing, and I don’t have to read the damned thing ever again. 😁

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There are many other things that must happen after an author has written The End, but to me, nothing is more important than the beta reading process and the edits, because that’s where the magic happens. And I could never do this without them.

So I guess this whole post can be considered a love letter to Addison Albright, Kris T. Bethke, and Trace Edward Zaber. Thank you for putting up with me. You’re the best. 😘

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Don’t forget to check out my fellow RatR authors and read their take on the subject.

Ellie Thomas :: Ofelia Gränd :: A.L. Lester :: Addison Albright :: Lillian Francis :: Fiona Glass :: K.L. Noone