I’ve finished the first draft of The Forge, book two of the Hammer Springs series.

Now what?

For this series, I’ve found myself in a bit of a trap. It’s set in 1950, in a small segregated town. Ugly things happened back then, and I’m not an over-the-top violence and offensive writer, so my fictional town of Hammer Springs isn’t as bad as most in some ways and just as bad or worse in others. I don’t include truly offensive racial words, even though they were used at that time, but others, I do. I’m shooting for verisimilitude, that is, words and actions that “feel” true, but aren’t.

So, as I read through the first draft, I’m looking for:

• Tipos.
• Repetitive words that repeat.
• The use of conflict, darn it!
• Are modifier right place in?
• Verisimilitude that sounds real (or false to correct)
• Things that are explained twice and twice explained things
• HIGHS and lows.
• T-e-n-s-i-o-n
• Dialog consistency, so people talk the same.
• Fllloooowwwww
• Unneeded th ngs
• LoGiC
• sTRUcture (does it all hang together?)

You also need to address your fears. Are the stakes high enough? I’m concerned mine aren’t because I don’t want to go there. So, are the ones I’ve got going to work? My narrator has racist undertones. Will those be seen as things to grow out of or missed entirely?

It could be your story needs complete rewriting. Mine doesn’t, I don’t think (fear!).

The only thing that can confirm that is beta readers. Yet, can you trust beta readers? One beta reader of my first book in the series (The Anvil) told me it was good, but they weren’t motivated to read the next book, while others are demanding the second book. One found the beginning slow, while the other loved it.

Assess your beta readers by your audience. As new adult novels, my audience is young men. Doesn’t mean women won’t enjoy it, but it’s written with a male perspective and men may pick up things some women don’t (example, world-building is a male delight; not so for some women). If your beta reader is a literary reader, your non-literary novel might receive odd notes.

An editor is always a good idea, but first:

• Go over it with ProWriteAid or Grammarly.
• Read your book in a different format (read it in print).
• Read it out loud.
• Listen to it out loud (Google or Word can read you your book)

Each of these will help you catch typos, they will not analyze your structure. To do that, go to https://authors.ai/ for a Marlowe analysis. There is the basic version for free, and pro reports for more detail. (I do not like most AIs, but this is merely comparing your book with others. It isn’t plagiarizing anything.)

If you still want a human structural editor or proofreader, go for it.

Ultimately, it’s your story and at some point you need to trust yourself.