GADS, it feels like it's been a while since I edited!
So how do I do this again?
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| An editing demon, apparently. No wonder we're scared! |
* read and create beat sheets: Note: This means basically a sentence or two for each section... the whole book in 5 or 6 pages. This is nice because it makes me read it all holistically and also gives me a place to glance for where big plot ideas will fit... I can check for big holes...
- Note that I can't seem to keep from basic edits when I do this. So sue me. It just drives me nuts to look at typos, even in a section that may change significantly.
* Then, manuscript in hand, I mark WHERE these go and write them... and I mark the things in that I already know need to be added... maybe foreshadowing I didn't know I needed in the first draft, details about gardening (because these need a little research and I don't research much on the first draft because it sidetracks me)
* Then, I read it all again--pen in hand, this time looking more closely at wording, continuity, pacing, errors... This is the mid-level edit, but it is HERE that I send it to Peer reviewers. I tell them to ignore typo stuff... as the feedback will change stuff... this is the PLOT review.
* Once I have peer reviews, I do the same... BIG edits, then LITTLE (ideally... if time... another peer review round here...)
* Then read out loud for more careful editing, and send to agent...
First editing task up is the 2nd Cozy Mystery, due to my editor September 30. I Still have maybe 100 pages to type, but I have 180 pages printed to start the process. My PLAN... read in one week, big edits week 2, smaller edits week 3, so sent to peers by July 20.
Give THEM 3 weeks. Then take one to address their changes and send to AGENT by August 20. Give HER 3 weeks, then I have about 3 weeks to polish.
While peers have the Cozy, I will begin on Kahlotus. The three weeks my peers have the cozy MAY be about right, but this is a biggish edit, so it may ALSO take the August span... But that ALSO will go to peers when I'm done, then be revised and then go to my agent...
I think I can fit the revisions for the first three chapters of What Ales Me in the In-between... in fact because it is ONLY 3 chapters and a synopsis, and because I know who Ellen plans on sending it to, I may do that first. I have believed all along, this is an easier sell, and I'd really LIKE to have another sale...
GACK! I guess what I'm saying is I am about to dive into three solid months of editing... I have to change brains.. Thankfully, my friend Stacy agreed to exchange brains with me, as she just got OUT of editing and is trying to get writing again... So I've got that going for me.
What about the rest of you? Can you edit and write at the same time or does it take some transition? What are you working on now?
[This just in” When one google images: Editing madness, I find three of my fabulous Joris designed book covers... so we've got that going for us...]
And it's Thursday! You know what that means!
22 comments:
I really need a good editing method. I don't have one. I just plunge in there & go nuts. hehe
I'm editing one and outlining another. I make lots of lists and notes in margins that I can't decipher later. I like the feeling of getting to the end, even though the pacing can be glacial at times.
mood
Moody Writing
@mooderino
I'm about to start this process, so it's been great to read this post now. Thank you. And good luck with it!
Got my 50,000 words in and discovered that i might be half way done. Thinking this might be a good time to check for some flaws. Thanks, your tips are helpful. Yeah, time to get naked!
I can write and edit at the same time...but I suffer. I will do anything to avoid doing that again. Good luck with your editing!
Thank goodness your brain is thoroughly NAKED!! Yay!!!!! Good luck with your editing!! Go, Tart, go! Take care
x
ooh i also have to fix tyopos and stuff kind of early on. I just can't ignore them when i'm working on other fixes
Trisha-i think everyone is different in how they do it. This system seems to work for me though. Each round ends up with three passes, but when i do it differently, I seem to miss the big issues.
Moody--yeah, I think I could plot or character sketch another. I tend not to because editing is something I want to just DO and get out of the way, but it is only the real writing it interferes with.
Rebecca-Good luck to you!
Siv--if it was ME, I'd wait until it's ALL done rather than checking now, but that's ME. I get tangled if I stop the writing momentum.
Elizabeth-I don't know how you do that... I can see though, how it would take it out of you.
Jenny-YAY for naked brain!
Sarah-Yeah, that's me, too. I just can't even read without fixing.
Write one thing and edit another at the same time? Not likely. My brain would totally shut down and I would accomplish/finish nothing.
Realy good tips here, Hart. Thanks
Editing demon has me by the jugular. Please bring exorcist pronto.
I'm in awe... I couldn't do more than one book at a time.
Since I'm still burnt, naked sounds like a fabulous idea... how 'bout I do your Kahlotus comments naked later today? ;-)
I am repeatedly gobsmacked by how organized you are about both writing and editing. I just recently (last year) came up with the earthshattering concept of having a certain amount of words that I would try to write every day. As for editing, I read it and then read it some more and then again and again and again. You get the picture. The only slightly organized thing I do is I never number my chapters because oddly I seem to write out of sequence a lot. One of the biggest pieces of editing, for me, is reorganizing the text so that it's sequential.
Good luck with your editing, Tarty!
At present, I'm half way thru editing three versions of one story (same premise written in three different genres ~250k words) to get it down to a single ms. I'm a chronic editor. I start when the first word goes down on the page and don't stop until the ms is out on submission. So no, no method.
I'd prefer not to write and edit at the same time, but I can if I have to.
That is going to be supremely helpful. Now, I need to do some more writing.
As another writer trying to edit right now, it's not really going for me. I can't write and edit at the same time. I just don't want to edit, which is... gah! for me. I need to think of a good bribe for myself to edit and complete my editing soon. Flying Buzz Lightyear was a bribe for my baby brother potty-training. I just need to find my good bribe item. :) That will be my motivation!
I'm writing at the moment, but I can do both at once.
I do four drafts of my novel. First is rough, of course. Second I'm fixing any plot holes. Third Dialogue, prose, repetitive words, etc...Last, line edit. It works for me. Oh, I laughed out loud at your frog pic. :)
I had to bookmark this post! I struggle with editing every time!
I spend more time editing than I do actually writing....
I hate the process.
I prefer that graphic's Thursday idea to any form of editing.
So far, I've found that I need a transition. I don't know if that will change the more I do this or what. Good luck with everything you've got going on!
Would you believe I have no plan at all when it comes to editing? I'm the biggest plotter of 'em all, yet I'm a TOTAL pantser when it comes to editing. I know I do about 3 phases before I send it off for review. After that it's all pretty much a blur.
Shout out if you need a reader! I owe you big time, and I love, love, LOVE your work. <3
Smoochies!
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