3. Proofreading
A ninety thousand-word manuscript has over a five-hundred thousand characters. Getting all those characters perfect in the construction of any novel is a daunting task. Typos, missing words, double words, inappropriate words somehow fall through multiple text readings, spelling and grammar checking software, and the best efforts of a concerned author.
To combat this problem, I use a special (and inexpensive software program) called TextAloud, offered by the NextUp company. This program converts screen text into spoken voice. I let the software speak to me. Often what the eyes fail to see, the ears hear. I edit the text cheerfully knowing that I've brought the draft a step closer to perfection.
Personal Discipline:
If you're a writer, you write, proofread, or perform marketing everyday. I keep statistics on my daily performance, while pushing to minimize errors, improve creativity, and increase dramatic content.
Sometimes I try to write before the coffee kicks in and the brain, like a rheumatic engine, fails to start. The first words to start a new scene seem to elude me, time ticks by, and frustration grows. When this happens, I take the scene and divide it into parts. I've had success writing the last part of the scene first and successively moving to earlier sections. When it is time to write the beginning part of the scene, you know what really occurs and the starting words magically appear.