First Draft Edited
I had plenty of spare time this weekend, around mowing the lawns, walking the dog and catching up with my old buddy (see below), to edit the first draft. It didn't take as long as I thought it would, which does worry me a little.
This first edit was purely to pick out the major grammar errors (missing , or . a the end of dialogue mostly), check the continuity (may still have issues with references to the time of day) of events, make sure the spelling of character and place names are correct and remove a couple of chapters that aren't really needed.
I had done quite a bit of "editing" as I was going, which is maybe why I didn't feel the need to rip this draft apart too much. Something to remember for next time perhaps? I could have spent more time writing the draft than editing it and left the editing to the "editing phase". What do I know, it's a whole new experience!
The word could started off at 81,371 and after I'd finished this edit, it is now down to 77,656 words. A 3,715 word reduction, but still needs a bit more trimming. Not sure where this is going to come from yet, as the story read pretty well as I went through it, but then I was focusing on the editing. I need to read it without making any changes to see where else it can be trimmed.
I have printed off a copy for my wife to read (she'll read it in a few hours at the rate she goes, she read Brandon Sanderson's 1088 page, Words of Radiance in about 4 days!). Then, after answering all her questions that may highlight other issues in the story, there may be more edits. But hopefully in the next few weeks, I'll be at that scary moment I hear other authors talk about ... hovering over the "Send" button in my mail client and parting with my manuscript, sending it on it's way to the editors!
We got to play with some old computer's, relived my school days, coding a BBC Micro, an Amstrad PCW and flipping switches on some awesome Altair and IMSAI boxes, all the while there is a gig going on around you!
Definitely a place I'm supporting and going back to when my boys are a little older. If you love all the history of computers and actually want to get HANDS ON, then this is the place to go.
This first edit was purely to pick out the major grammar errors (missing , or . a the end of dialogue mostly), check the continuity (may still have issues with references to the time of day) of events, make sure the spelling of character and place names are correct and remove a couple of chapters that aren't really needed.
I had done quite a bit of "editing" as I was going, which is maybe why I didn't feel the need to rip this draft apart too much. Something to remember for next time perhaps? I could have spent more time writing the draft than editing it and left the editing to the "editing phase". What do I know, it's a whole new experience!
The word could started off at 81,371 and after I'd finished this edit, it is now down to 77,656 words. A 3,715 word reduction, but still needs a bit more trimming. Not sure where this is going to come from yet, as the story read pretty well as I went through it, but then I was focusing on the editing. I need to read it without making any changes to see where else it can be trimmed.
I have printed off a copy for my wife to read (she'll read it in a few hours at the rate she goes, she read Brandon Sanderson's 1088 page, Words of Radiance in about 4 days!). Then, after answering all her questions that may highlight other issues in the story, there may be more edits. But hopefully in the next few weeks, I'll be at that scary moment I hear other authors talk about ... hovering over the "Send" button in my mail client and parting with my manuscript, sending it on it's way to the editors!
The Centre for Computing History
Phil and I went to a gig at the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge on Saturday night, which consisted of the rapper MCI Pod, The British IBM (a band) and Capcom's own in-house rapper Mega Ran and Mr Miranda. To say I had no idea what to expect from a gig inside a computer museum was an understatement, but we actually had a great time!We got to play with some old computer's, relived my school days, coding a BBC Micro, an Amstrad PCW and flipping switches on some awesome Altair and IMSAI boxes, all the while there is a gig going on around you!
Definitely a place I'm supporting and going back to when my boys are a little older. If you love all the history of computers and actually want to get HANDS ON, then this is the place to go.
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