Creative Writing Exercises For Dummies

Chapter 26

Polishing Your Work for Publication

In This Chapter

Reading your story one last time

Presenting your typescript for maximum impact

So you’ve completed the final draft of your novel. Hurrah! Take a moment to congratulate yourself, because finishing a project of that length is quite an achievement, and many people start but never see the writing through.

When you feel that your book is ready to show to a professional reader, agent or publisher, you need to do a final read-through, looking out for any small errors that may have slipped in. I can’t overstress the importance of submitting a typescript that looks as if you’ve taken every possible care. You create a poor impression if you send in a story peppered with mistakes.

You also have to format your typescript as professionals expect to receive it. When I ran a publishing house, I was amazed by how many people sent in typescripts with unnumbered pages, strange fonts and single line spacing, and littered with spelling mistakes. You need to ensure that your work stands out from such shoddy submissions in the large pile of unsolicited typescripts on someone’s desk.

Carrying Out Your Final Read-Through

A professional-looking typescript that demands to be taken seriously doesn’t contain any continuity mistakes, grammatical ...