The End is Just The Beginning

“Endings” – both planned and unexpected, are a theme in my life at the moment. The end of my ‘real-life’ job, and given that I’m 57 years old, the high probability that the prospect of any kind of salaried employment has also ended.

After 15 years of living on Vancouver Island, we are planning on moving. It will be the end of an era – more for my husband than myself.

And last week I typed “The End” on my first completed novel of 2025.

The thing is, “endings” usually come right before a beginning. The beginning of my new life as a full-time writer. The beginning of a new adventure in a brand-new community. And, in the case of my novel, the beginning of a lot of work before readers get their hands on it.

For any writer, the end of a first draft is cause for celebration. You've finally done it. After countless late nights, endless revisions, and gallons of coffee, you've typed those two magical words: "The End." Congratulations! You've completed your manuscript, and that's a huge accomplishment. But before you pop the champagne and start planning your book tour, it's important to understand that once you've finished your manuscript, the real work begins.

The first step is to take a deep breath and step away from your work for a bit. You've been living and breathing your story for months (or even years!), and it's important to give yourself some distance before diving into the editing process. If possible – and sometimes it isn’t possible because I’m up against an editing deadline, it helps to take a day or so away from the story and your characters to gain some perspective (and get some rest!). Some writers like to really disconnect for a while, but that doesn’t work for me. I like to keep in “the zone” of my story.

But when you're ready to dive back in, it's time to start the revision process. This is where you'll take a critical eye to your work and look for ways to improve it. You might need to cut scenes that don't advance the plot, flesh out characters that feel one-dimensional, or tighten up the pacing.

At this stage, I like to ‘solve the mystery”. By that I mean, do the red herrings really throw me off the scent of the killer? Are the clues plausible? Can the sleuth solve the mystery? Is the motivation of both sleuth and killer believable?

Pacing in crime novels is important too. Will the reader be compelled to keep turning the pages? Do you introduce enough suspense to grab the reader’s attention?

This entire process can take a while.

Then it’s time for a couple of rounds of editing and proofreading.

Picking an editor who can work with your style and tone is very important. As is an editor who is honest and not afraid of making constructive criticism. Your editor will most likely be the first person other than yourself who has read your book. You need to trust that person 

If you're planning to self-publish, you'll need to start thinking about things like cover design, formatting, and distribution.

There are plenty of tools and services available to help you with these tasks, but it's important to do your research and make sure you're making the best choices for your book. You'll also need to start thinking about marketing and promotion – how will you get the word out about your book and connect with potential readers?

Regardless of which publishing path you choose, one of the most important things you can do after typing "The End" is to celebrate your accomplishment. Writing a book is a huge undertaking, and you should be proud of yourself for seeing it through to the end. Take some time to reflect on how far you've come and all the hard work you've put in.

As you move forward with your writing and publishing life, it's important to remember that "The End" is really just the beginning, like so many aspects of our life, and we continue to embrace new projects, stories and adventures.