Friday, April 13, 2007

Do you like trees?


http://www.neatorama.com/2007/03/21/10-most-magnificent-trees-in-the-world/

I love trees--the forest, in fact, was one of the loveliest things about Mt. Hermon. To check out some of the world's most amazing trees, be sure to click on the above link.

I think I have just finished my WIP, SHE ALWAYS WORE RED. I sat here today, polished the ending (which didn't get solidified until the third draft), and kept checking my skeleton. The bones fit.

Then I went over my "to do list"--check my notes in my notebook, on all the scraps of paper littering my desk, changing my double hyphens to proper em dashes, checking the emotions (I tend to short change 'em), and making sure I got rid of all the weasel words I'd capped.

And then it hit me--only four o'clock, and I think I'm finished. I wrote my editor and told her to expect the ms. tomorrow--I'm still going to print out a copy and sleep on it.

Right now I can't think of a single way to improve it, but I'm sure there are dozens. My brain, however, cannot hold another revision thought, so it's time to move on.

How do you know when the time comes? You just do. And you pray you never hand a book in unless that point comes.

BTW, I ran a spell check and got all those lovely statistics--this 110,791 word manuscript was only one percent passive, with 11.5 words per sentence, and a reading level of grade 4.6. LOL! And that was with quite a few medical terms!

But boy, it feels good to be done (at least, until I get my revision letter). Because there's another book or three waiting to be written . . .

Angie

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Loved the first chapter - just wish I could have kept scrolling down for more.

Got a note from Virginia - Tim is giving Rachael away - now I KNOW I'll cry.

Lynda said...

Congratulations, Angie, on finishing your book. It must be a great feeling to get such a big project off your desk and on to the editor!

I'm impressed with your 4.6 reading level! I write devotional material for children and keeping the reading level down is always a challenge--especially when you're working with Scripture language. I can't imagine doing it with medical language!LOL

BTW, I loved the first chapter! I'm definitely interested in these characters and waiting eagerly to see what happens to then all!