I finally finished fixing the errors in “Millie’s Adventures in Time.” This time around, I had the help of my sister, Debbie Todd, who made note of all the typos, wrong words, and grammatical errors that she noticed.
She then sent them to me in an email and I implemented 95% of them. In some cases, I let a word stand as I had written it. But for the most part, her suggestions were spot on and helped to improve the story. I’m very grateful to my sister for her help.
I was put on to the fact that the first edition had a lot of errors by a friend who bought the paperback and read it. She told me there were a lot of mistakes. I was totally disheartened to hear that. My husband and I had spent so much time reading and re-reading the manuscript that we were sure we had found them all. Hah! I should have known better.
It wasn’t hubris. It was just lack of experience with this sort of thing. I know now how easy it is to miss all the little problems.
Another friend, Chris Woods, read it and mentioned I had a problem with tenses. He said I kind of mushed them all together, sometimes in the same paragraph.
Because of how I chose to tell the story, I let a lot of the mush of tenses stand. But there were a few places where I did straighten them out … more or less. I was grateful for the heads up about that and so when I read the novel again (this time from a hard copy), I kept it in mind and was able to make the necessary changes.
I’ve uploaded it to Kindle Direct Publishing. The eBook is live again, but the paperback version is still in review as I write this. Hopefully, it won’t take as long to go live this time as it did last time. Also, hopefully, it won’t take as long for the two versions to link on Amazon.
It feels good to have finally finished the updating of “Millie’s Adventures in Time.” Did we catch all the errors? Probably not. But at least Millie is now better than it was. That’s all I can ask for.
Now I can begin working on the sequel again.
Maddie's Mom Writes 
I really appreciate your post for the insights it gives on editing. I have a question that has been bugging me for a while now and I thought you might be a good person to ask–no, request it for an answer😊 It’s this: how do you know when a story should end? Like I understand if the story is done and has reached its climax. But just when and how do you know that it’s the best it can be? What if you have a new idea about that story months after it’s published? It gives me some anxiety. I would love to know your opinion.
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I think knowing when it’s good enough or finished is one of the hardest things. As for when a story reaches its climax … it’s best to have an idea about the final outcome before you even begin to write. Then all of your creation is tending toward that ending the whole time. Think of it like as if you were going to make a beef stew. If you did not know you wanted to make a beef stew, all those ingredients … the beef and onions and carrots and potatoes and green beans would just sit there staring at you. Of course, this analogy isn’t completely apt because maybe you would make something better than a beef stew with those ingredients.
For me, I set up a cast of characters, I decide how I want the story to end and then I let it play out. It’s almost as if the characters write their stories as we go along.
If you self-publish on a platform like Kindle Direct Publishing as I do, if you get a better idea several months down the road, you can rewrite the story and upload the newer version as a second edition. So I have no worries on that account.
At some point, you have to decide that it is as good as it is going to be. It will never be perfect. Perfection is a concept only and not a reality. So just do the best job that you can and then let it go.
Most of all, have fun doing it. I find when I have fun doing it, it turns out just fine. Love your characters. Love you story. And enjoy the journey.
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This was so helpful. Thank you for taking the time to explain it to me in such detail. I really appreciate it.
I’m thinking about publishing through KDP soon and knowing that I can edit a published story definitely makes me feel relieved.
I will try to follow your advice.
Thank you once again!
I wish you and your loved ones sound health.
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I’m glad I could be of some help. But remember, there are all sorts of opinions out there about how a person should do something. In the end, all that really matters is what works for you. I wish you and yours good health as well.
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