As I mentioned a couple of days ago, one of the ways I develop a finished manuscript is to read the novel into a tape recorder and they listen back, noting all the errors and things that need to be changed.

In approaching the final stages of An Eagle Unchained I have reached the point where I am listening back to the recording.  It is amazing how much differenct a perspective I get when doing this.  If I had to describe the sensation, it's like an artist who has been concentrating on a small portion of a larger work and then steps back until he can see the entire painting.  Working on a novel an author really can only see the page in front of him and sometimes it is difficult to visualize the entire story.

Reading the manuscript out loud into the recorder is still much like seeing one page at a time.  Of course you have to concentrate on each word and do notice repetition and omitted words.  I find that listening to the recorded story is more like stepping back and seeing the entire picture.  Perhaps it's more like what a reader would experience.  Now I can see things that need to be omitted and plot lines that need to be expanded with much more clarity.

When I thought I was pretty much finished with the novel, now I can see there is still quite a bit to do to put it into shape.  Hopefully this process will make for a better book.  What do you think?