Finished Your First Draft? What Writers Should Do After “The End”

From Edie: Cindy Sproles shares what writers should do after “The End,” from editing and polishing your manuscript to embracing what comes next.

Finished Your First Draft? What Writers Should Do After “The End”

by Cindy K. Sproles @CindyDevoted

I just typed those wonderful last words—THE END. It’s been months of work. Writing, rewriting. Character development, names, and name changes. I’ve even been known to scream upon occasion when I can’t get a scene to work, or even when a scene works perfectly. Either way, once a writer hits those last six letters that turn into two huge words, folks seem to think the work is done.

In fact, quite the opposite. Therefore, I propose a somewhat humorous view to the “what next” after “The End.”

The first thing to remember is that writing “the end” is like tying up a mystery and never telling the reader who the killer is. It’s like peanut butter rolls without the chocolate, or ice cream without syrup. “The end” doesn’t mean finished. 

Let’s define what “The End” really means.

The End means The Edit: Oh my, this may be the sweat equity required of writers. It’s enough to cough up a good story, but then we have to go through it and rip it to shreds. That first real read-through takes chapter one from 3000 words down to 2000 words. Yes, I said, “takes it down.” As writers, our first goal is to get the story on the page. But the second goal becomes taking out those unneeded thoughts, extra words, and busy sentences that are red-d-d-un-un-d-d-ant. The first read-through is where you take off the creative hat (because the creativity is on the page now) and you put on that little golfer hat-beanie thing that signifies the snooty reader who wants rid of the glitz and glam. They just want “the read.” It’s important to realize there is a fine line between a snooty reader and an efficient edit. You have to learn to read with eyes that say, “I like this, but it really doesn’t belong here? Save it for later.” 

Lesson one in the first read or the edit is this very simple word to the wise. “Don’t marry your words. There’s always better words.” The hardest thing about reading through with that silly little beanie on is learning that every word we write isn’t always the perfect word(s), even phrase(s), or paragraph(s). Sometimes we can love our words to our story’s detriment. When you spend time on that first read through, learn to ask yourself the question, “Does the reader really care? or “Is this of any real value?” Asking these questions goes back to a time when we were really taught self-editing. It’s understanding that just because we love a phrase or paragraph doesn’t mean it tracks with the reader, or that it moves your story ahead. When you find yourself spending several paragraphs on a description, it's probably time to ask those aforementioned questions. Most of the time, when you ask, “Does the reader really care?” the truth comes out. NO! They don’t. You’ll find those overwritten ideas drag your story to a halt, or they’re backstory that we want the reader to know, but that the reader really doesn’t care one iota about. Ouch. Yep it stings, but once you take it out, then re-read a day later, you’ll thank me and so will your reader.

The End means Polish: Once you type The End and you do that first read-through edit, then you’re ready for read-through number two. This is where you make sure you’ve added the perfect descriptions. Read paragraph for paragraph and ask yourself yet another question. Have I pinged all the senses in this chapter? Oh, people, this is vital. I had a good writer friend who has long since passed, but he taught us, “Ping a sense in every paragraph.” He was a bigger, better writer than me, because I couldn’t do that. But I can hit every sense in every chapter. When we ping or touch every sense for the reader, they are immediately drawn in. Their imagination takes hold, enhancing the story's details. Now, instead of just reading about a smoky, stale, stuffy room, we add something to the sense of smell that kicks the description up a notch and allows the brain to trigger the memory of that scent. Now, your reader is suddenly taken deep into the essence of the story. They’re right there with you when you created the story.

The polish is what makes the story sing. It’s what brings the reality into fiction and makes the reader question if this is real or Memorex. (Okay, some of you may be to young for that analogy, so I’ll just say, it makes the reader question if what they read was real. And readers love teetering on the edge of real and maybe not.) Polish is the icing on the cake. Yet another analogy to drive home a point.

The End means a sudden letdown for the writer: What, you may ask. What let down? Well, it’s a strange sorta place to be in. We’ve spent months with our characters, dug deep into their lives. We’ve followed them down roads we didn’t expect they’d take and turns we might have wished they hadn’t made. We have fully invested in this story, day in and day out. We’ve parked our backsides in our chairs and been lost in the world we have created around us. Our characters have become our best friends, and now, suddenly, they’ve moved on and left us sitting. It’s a bit of a letdown when you get up to head to your writing room and realize that the story you’ve worked on for months has come to an end. One could say it’s bittersweet. 

The truth is, we may, just for a moment, mourn the loss, and that’s okay, because these characters, this story, is a part of us. It came from our imagination and was crafted by our creativity. This story, is by all due rights, a tiny piece of our souls. Its creative process has ended, and now it’s time for it to sail.

The End means What is Next? Yes, what is next, because you see, we are writers. Our heads are filled with unusual characters, hard, and even funny moments. Our imagination calls out the next thought, the next phrase, the next sentence, and takes hold of it. It twists it, turns it, churns and tosses it onto the page. We take off our snooty golf beanie and press our game hat tight into our hair, then cock our head. Hum—what if…

And the thoughts begin to fly. A new story. A new tail. A new, greater, stronger, adventure begins.

The truth is. The End means Here we go again! Jump in and soar.

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Finished Your First Draft? What Writers Should Do After “The End” from @CindyKSproles on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Cindy K. Sproles is an author, speaker, and conference teacher. Having served for a number of years as a managing editor for Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas and Ironstream Media, Cindy now works as a mentor, coach, and freelance editor. She is the co-founder of Writing Right Author Mentoring Services with Lori Marett and she is the director of the Asheville Christian Writers Conference. Cindy is also the co-founder of Christian Devotions Ministries and WWW.CHRISTIANDEVOTIONS.US, as well as WWW.INSPIREAFIRE.COM. Her devotions are in newspapers and magazines nationwide, and her novels have become award-winning best-selling works. She is a popular speaker at conferences and a natural encourager. Cindy is a mountain girl, born and raised in the Appalachian mountains, where she and her husband still reside. She has raised four sons and now resorts to raising chickens where the pecking order is easier to manage. You can visit Cindy at WWW.CINDYSPROLES.COM or www.wramsforwriters.com.