Perfection is Proofreading!

I didn’t get to do much work on my soon-to-be-masterpiece today, as I had to work (which is motivation enough to be  a successful novelist). But, my next mission is to proofread chapter 11. My husband wants to read it tomorrow night, but I don’t think it’ll be ready by then. My writing process is as follows: I have a general storyline, a direction that I wish my novel to follow. Then I break down a few chapters at a time, followed by a bare bones outline of each chapter. Then I write each chapter, sans dialogue (because we all know how I feel about dialogue). Next, I complete the dialogue and “flesh out” (see previous post) the details. Finally, I proofread. Proofreading is always fun for me. It reminds me of just how quickly my mind works. I often forget inconsequential words such as the, and, to, she, etc.

So, my other goal this upcoming week, besides proofreading chapter 11, is to work on and complete chapter 12 and write a succinct, enthralling synapsis. You know, the little summary that would be written inside of the jacket of a hard cover book a few years ago? I want it to really grab people, without giving too much away. We’ll see what happens. In the meantime, I’ll be providing short summaries of each chapter. Today, I begin with Chapter 1 (duh):

Lyla Kyle, my main character and antagonist/protagonist (dependent upon the reader), is getting dressed for a date. She’s beautiful and she’s excited. Not for the date, but for the outcome. Chapter 1 is rather short (definitely needs some “fleshing”), but it does lead right into a flashback, aka chapter 2. Stay tuned!