Highway 152: An Editing Journey

✍️

Two Weeks That Changed Everything

What happens when you hand your manuscript to a professional editor? I'm about to show you the real, unvarnished journey of how Highway 152 went from rough draft to polished story.

From August 11-26, 2024, editor David G and I embarked on what I now call "The Great Manuscript Marathon." The numbers tell the story:

46 Editorial Comments

15 Intensive Days

17.3 Hours of Work

The Evolution

Week 1:

Foundation Building
The journey started simple enough - a few tense corrections, some structural notes. David's first comment? "Tense was wrong." Direct. Honest. Exactly what I needed.

Week 2:

The Dialogue Wars
By August 26th, we'd entered what I fondly call "The Dialogue Wars." David had strong opinions about my speech tags and wasn't shy about sharing them.

But then came the big picture feedback:

"I think you need to let the reader know the year that this happens and where it is. It's surprising to come across that only in the second paragraph."

— David G, Editor

That's when I knew this wasn't going to be a light polish job.

By August 26th, David had strong opinions about my dialogue:

"In general, throughout I think you have too many instances of 'Pierre said,' 'Emma said,' 'Edward asked,' etc. Many of these can simply be eliminated..."

— David G, Editor

He wasn't wrong. I was beating readers over the head with names.

My Favorite Editorial Moments

🎯 The Precision Expert:
"A furlong is 220 yards, so a few furlongs must be about 500 yards, an awfully long way to shout across!"

                    (Note to self: Google measurements before writing action scenes)
🔄 The Consistency Crusader:
"Make his name Pierre throughout, it's far too confusing to the reader to mix them up like this."

                    (Said twice in one session - David really meant business)
🕵️ The Realism Police:
"This seems a bit jarring coming after learning that Emma is a keen reader. Where does she find time to read if she's always outdoors?"

                    (Caught me creating an impossible character - good editors notice everything)

What I Learned

Every "I don't understand this at all. Can you clarify?" taught me about clarity. Every dialogue restructure showed me how conversation really flows. Every tense correction reinforced consistency.

The most valuable lesson? Professional editing isn't about ego bruising - it's about story strengthening. David's 46 comments weren't criticisms; they were surgical improvements.

The Real Story

Behind every polished book is this kind of detailed, sometimes obsessive attention to craft. As indie authors, we don't have big publishing house editorial teams. We have to build our own.

Highway 152 is better because David G caught my furlong math, insisted Pierre stay Pierre, and taught me that "remarked" was too cool for an emotional moment.

That's the real story behind the story.

📚

📖 Behind the Scenes

Two Weeks That Changed Everything

The Evolution

My Favorite Editorial Moments

What I Learned

The Real Story