Episode 45: Once More Unto the Breach…
There had been no respite, no recovery. It was back to the book and editing.
Laura had given our manuscript a quick read and decided to take on the task of helping us finishing the project.
And Laura didn’t just want to edit. She wanted to EDIT. Her idea of editing was to sit side by side in front of the screen and work together in real time.
Night and day, we delved deeply into the manuscript. Laura didn’t really so much write as she did direct, like Spielberg, or Lucas, or DeMille. Together we hacked, re-arranged, removed, and expanded. She was brilliant. Like an unfinished script under the command of a master filmmaker, the book started to take on a completely new feel. It grew tighter, more succinct, more direct. Rarely moving from the screens, we ate and drank whilst arguing over word selection and placement, as well as my writing style. Too many italics. No exclamation points! This doesn’t make any sense to me. You have to spell it out here…every word. Don’t be snarky. Don’t insult the reader. It was like being back in Ms. Barr’s High School AP English class. Yikes.
Crushed into a corner of the office, Laura and I reviewed every word of the manuscript…again and again. It was simultaneously tedious and immediately gratifying. And as the pages passed, the manuscript drastically, quickly started improving.
Two weeks to go until the deadline….
The Death of Online Dating 