Okay. My five years are up. No more researching. No more squeezing words from my brain. My manuscript is done but not complete. Here comes the second step: editing. Or as I like to refer to it: slash and burn baby.
Kill those adverbs (thanks Mark Twain). Dig for stronger verbs. Give those passive verbs a shot of espresso and turn them active. Wince at anachronisms. Make dialogue ‘ear worthy’.
Whew! I have work to do.
Books to help me along:
Elizabeth Lyon. Manuscript Makeover. New York: Pengin Books, 2008.
Jessica Page Morrell. Thanks, But This Isn’t for Us. New York: Penguin Group, 2009.
James Alexander Thom. The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer’s Digest Books, 2010.
Persia Woolley. How to Write and Sell Historical Fiction. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer’s Digest Books, 1997.
L.M. Elm, Historical Novelist 