Completing That Book: The Seven Stages
From my Newsletter, Winter 2008
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A student sent me an email. She’d been working on her manuscript a long time, and I’d asked her if she’d gotten it done. She said she was surprised that it was almost done but there were more things than she thought involved in finishing. I told her, well there are always stages to “doneness,” and it helps to realize that there are at least seven completion points. She immediately asked, oh, can you tell me what they all are?
This is my answer.
The first done point is of course when you get the whole story/memoir/nf piece completely written out. It can still be very rough, even written out in outline form, but you know the beginning, middle and end, or you have written out every scene you’d intended to write when you wrote the list out when you first had the book idea. This is a very exciting time but also a little dangerous, because the exhilaration can also lead to despair when you realize how much is still to be done. So it’s very important to celebrate here, and fix your next completion point.
The second completion point is when you’ve taken that first rough draft and modified it enough so that it would be readable for someone else. Scenes and dialogue and description are now incorporated.
The third completion point is when you’ve added in all the things you forgot or didn’t realize needed to be in, after you reread the second version. And you’ve also put everything into the right place, and taken out what doesn’t belong.
The fourth completion point is when you carefully review the last manuscript and have finessed the words and sentences. This is probably what most people would think of as the complete manuscript. But here’s what you haven’t realized. Your “final draft” is the first draft to the agent or editor upon whose desk it lands next. After its acceptance by an agent or publisher, it will require three more rounds.
The fifth completion point is when you make the editing suggestions your agent or editor gives you.
The sixth completion point is when you make the copyediting suggestions when the book is in production at the publisher.
The seventh completion point is when you make the final corrections to the page proofs you receive from the printer before it goes to press!
So you see, it’s a long process. It is like a marathon, and you can look at each completion point as a mini-marathon. And it’s why it is so important to acknowledge and celebrate each stage you do complete. You may even want to plan special events to celebrate: a dinner at your favorite restaurant, a massage, a book publication party. This is also why it’s so important in the beginning to be careful what you say to others out in the world. The worst thing is to get that dreaded question, “How’s your book coming?” followed by “You mean you aren’t done yet?” Most people out in the world don’t realize what is entailed in actually completing a book. And even some fellow writers aren’t very generous. Set expectations low, and enjoy the process, in your own time, every step of the way.