February 7, 2009
As a writer, I’ve found it’s been helpful to have a trusted “first reader,” someone who reads my work and provides valuable constructive criticism. In my case, my wife, Wendy, is first reader, and she does a great job. She has a great eye for spotting glitches in a manuscript and guiding me in fixing them. She can identify plot holes, structural problems, inconsistencies, and other flaws like nobody’s business. This is valuable, because I have no perspective at all regarding something I’ve written, at least not for a long time (sometimes years). My first reader brings needed perspective to the table early in the game, enabling me to tune up a manuscript with a high degree of confidence that it’s working properly and send it out much sooner than I would otherwise be able to do.
Now, I’m about to take our working relationship a step further. Until now, I’ve only given manuscripts to Wendy after I’ve finished the first draft. It’s been a superstition of mine; I’ve been afraid to show the incomplete work to her in case her input somehow has a negative impact on my process. But now, I’ve decided to phase out that restriction. I’m about to start handing over draft pages to my first reader before the first draft manuscript is done. My hope is that Wendy’s input, carefully considered, will help me to improve the novel while it’s in progress, instead of coming in after the manuscript’s been written, forcing me to do revisions. Often, I have trouble juggling the multitude of different facets of a novel, such as plot, characterization, setting, foreshadowing, pace, subplots, tension, and mood. I’m hoping my first reader, injected into the process earlier, will help me to juggle these facets more effectively from an earlier point. I really think it could genuinely help shape the book in a more global way, as I’ll be able to incorporate altered elements throughout the remainder of the manuscript and build on them. I’d prefer to do it that way rather than finishing a 500-600 page first draft, then going back through it page by page and plugging in changes and references to those changes. Retrofitting a novel like that is by no means an easy task.
So we’ll see how it goes. I asked Wendy about it tonight, and she said she’ll give it a shot. I’m hoping for the best; I do think it’s a good idea. See you tomorrow!
