So the grinding work began. Douglas Campbell carefully checked spelling and grammatical errors while Carolyn started on the substantive editing. I went through line by line, sometimes adjusting metre, sometimes rewriting or cutting segments for clarification or for adding new possibilities. This phase is one in which any change may clarify or muddy what is intended. It leads to more than one draft—in fact, there have been nine drafts of the first two books, and Carolyn will soon send me her edits for what might be the final draft of Book Three, Spenser.
The first two books each took a year for their final drafts, with some major discussions that either confirmed or led to important revisions.
