Reviewing: The End Is Only the Beginning

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Benjamin_C_Andrews]Benjamin C Andrews
You're at the computer, fingers flying across the keyboard as you type that last page. It's like seeing the finish line after a grueling marathon. As you type that final word, and reach the end, you're filled with a sense of complete joy. It was a long time getting there, and there were many times you thought you'd never make it. You pushed through that though, and kept your goal in sight. Even if it took longer than you possibly imagined, you still finally reached that goal.
Be sure to pat yourself on the back, you've earned it! But don't fool yourself into thinking that's the end. One of the biggest mistakes you could make would be to simply turn around, and submit that piece of writing as a finished piece. Unfortunately, you've only completed the first leg of the race.
Don't despair though! Writing a book is like running a triathlon. The three events you have to contend with are writing, reviewing, and promotion (or submissions to publishers if you're going the traditional route). The second event, reviewing, is still definitely a lot of work. The good news though, is that you're already over that first hurdle.
No matter how great a writer you may be, there will be things in your writing to be fixed. Grammatical errors, punctuation, or even just how your ideas come across. I know even after reviewing my own works multiple times, I found tons of errors. Even after all the ones I corrected, when I passed it off to someone else to proofread, there were still errors I had missed. It's key you don't let that get you down. We aren't all sitting on an advanced English degree with years of practical experience at proofreading. The key elements are patience, and thoroughness.
Make sure you are looking at material you haven't read recently. I personally recommend typing it out the first time all the way through, without going back and reading it. That way, when you reach the end of your writing, you can move back to the beginning of the piece with fresh eyes. You are many times more likely to see mistakes in something you haven't seen for a while. Read through the whole thing, correcting anything you see wrong, until you reach the end once more. After that? Do it again. Do it as many times as you can, until you feel ill just from thinking of looking at the manuscript again. It may get tedious, but your work will look much better for it, and have far fewer errors.
Something else you may consider is letting someone who hasn't read it before take a shot at it. It could be a family member, or a friend. As mentioned above, fresh eyes see mistakes much easier than those that are familiar with the writing already. The plus side about this, is you can generally convince your loved ones to do it for free, which can be a great help to a new author who may not have a lot of cash to pay for a professional editing service.
Should you want to go all the way though, having your manuscript professionally proofread can be a great step in getting your book to look as professional as possible. Rates vary, but this isn't usually an incredibly cheap venture. The longer your book is, the more it is going to cost. Also, be sure to research into the people who you are going to trust with your money and manuscript. If you're going to do it, make sure you do it right, and don't set yourself up to lose a ton of cash for someone who may be even less capable than you when it comes to proofreading.
My last tip is something I discovered on my own, as I was editing my own book, Rift of Askrah. If you've typed your manuscript on the computer, which most of us do these days, print the whole thing off for one of your proofreading rounds. Something about seeing the words on paper instead of the computer screen gave me a different perspective as I was doing my editing. I noticed a lot of errors that my eyes just kept sliding by on the computer screen. Make changes on the paper so you can go back and add them into your saved manuscript.
Reviewing your hard work can be a difficult part of the process, but it is also an indispensable part of making your writing as close to perfect as possible. If you've spent all the time it already took to actually write the thing, then you might as well go all the way and make it great. Read with fresh eyes as you review, leave it alone for a week if you have to. Get help from family and friends too. They want you to succeed just as much as you do. It may be an arduous process, but it is an important part of creating great books people will want to read.
I'm Benjamin C. Andrews, an author sharing my writing knowledge with others. Visit http://magicjarpublishing.blogspot.com/ for more writing tips and tricks, and other quality information.
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