Sunday, November 8, 2015

The Editing Cave


For about the past month, I've been in editing mode. The ninth and final book in my Cotillion Ball series is due to the publisher in a matter of weeks, and i'm tediously going through my checklist as I hone my rough first draft into a final version.

I took a workshop last month through RWA and the instructor made a comment that a first draft can be so rough it can sand wood. But, with the proper editing, no one will know what the first version looked like. As the child of a homebuilder, I love the analogy.

Stephen King once said, “To write is human, to edit is divine.” I knew we were kindred spirits. 

For me, the first draft is merely the first step. Each time I go back through my manuscript, from start to finish on each occasion, I have a set order to my process. Six, seven, eight times through. It doesn't matter how many times I comb through it. Each time, I'm looking at some different aspect of my work. Finally, when I can read through it with my hands off the keyboard, I can send it off. 

As I write this, I'm about 2/3 of the way through the fifth draft of the story, making what I hope will be my final edits–adding in the missing words, tying up the loose story threads, adding description and texture to the story. I should be able to finish it up by next week, and then read through it once or twice more before I send it off. But if it takes more read-throughs before I can keep my hands off the keyboard, so be it. Some books are harder to write than others. 


Every author has a different approach to the creation of a story. Some write out of order, laying down scenes as they appear in the author's imagination and then piecing them together like a big jigsaw puzzle. I admire these writers, since I can't do it. Some use an outline and synopsis to make it clear to themselves which way the story should go. I use this linear approach, but don't make it so detailed the story and characters can't surprise me as I write. 

Whatever process one goes through to get to the final, shiny, polished story, it shouldn't be rushed. There are too many books out there with typos and poor grammar, in both the traditional press and self-published works. I want my manuscript to be as clean as it can be when I let it go. If all the niggling little things are done when it goes to my editor, she can concentrate on the story line and strengthen that, instead of worrying over too many commas and the difference between heard and herd. 

For everyone participating in NaNoWriMo, I hope you take the month of December to turn your piece of sandpaper into a shiny, polished pearl before you send it off to an agent or publisher. Don't rush the process. The end result will be worth it. 

10 comments:

  1. I just hit send Friday on some developmental edits for TT#7. Since this is an ongoing series, I have to watch for changing last names, personality twerks, and keep the mystery alive and kicking.

    Good news is I'm quickly writing a contemporary romance or maybe two depending on how #1 goes by the end of the year. It will clear my head so I can go into my other mystery series at the first of the year with no cobwebs.

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    1. Sounds like you've been a busy girl, Lynn. I'm about halfway through what I hope will be my final run-through before I hit the send button. I know what you mean about keeping track of names, etc. My hero's eyes changed from green to blue in this book, which fortunately one of my beta readers caught. Duh.

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  2. Excellent advice! Thanks for sharing, Becky :)

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    1. Thanks, Joanne, for visiting today. And for tweeting about it.

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  3. Good info. I like what you said about reading it until you can keep your hands off the keyboard. I still want to make changes after my work is in print! It's hard to stop tweaking. Btw, I'm one of those crazy writers who writes scenes out of order. ;)

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    1. Which means you're one of those crazy writers I admire so. I've tried, but just can't do them out of order. And I agree with it being hard to stop tweaking. I figure even if I can control my fingers, and can get through a read-through without too much tweaking, it's still going to go thru 2 or 3 more edits from the publisher. So there will still be time to tweak it after I send it off.

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  4. Good advise Becky. Wish I could break the habit of editing as I go. Even in NaNo, I do a bit of it. Not to clean up, but for the story. I can add the pretty stuff later.

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  5. Like I said in the piece, we each have our own way of writing. What matters is putting words on the page, which you're doing. Good job with NaNo so far.

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  6. I am in awe of anyone who uses the month of December and actually comes up with a final edit. I wish I were faster. Agree with everything Becky says. Am working on a POV edit and Char's list edit. Sigh!!!!

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    1. Thanks, Susan, for stopping by. Each time I go through my ms, i'm looking for something different, just like you do. It's the only way I've found that works.

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