THE JOYS OF EDITING

            Through the several Facebook forums I subscribe to, one of the things people hate the most next to marketing is editing. For me, I can go along with the marketing thing. However, when it comes to editing, it’s a natural part of the writing process and I enjoy it almost as much as writing. I say almost only because I’m not spewing out the verbal diarrhea that is the freedom of pantsing the initial manuscript. In some ways, I almost enjoy it more because I’ve already accomplished something, and now I’m revisiting it to where I can sit back and enjoy it. The only difference is now I’m mopping up.

INITIAL BURST AND SELF-EDITING

            The initial burst of writing will likely include some self-editing. The better you get, the more self-editing you do as you write, usually in the same session, or maybe a few days later. Then, if you have a critique group, after they get a crack at it, you fix things and move on.

            That’s all part of the initial burst and self-editing phase.

FIRST HARD EDIT

            The first hard edit should come after you’ve divorced yourself from the manuscript for a few months, or longer. During this time, you should’ve sat the book (or story) aside and moved on to something else. Get it completely off your mind so you can come back with a fresh perspective.

            Advantages of this are not only that you can more readily see flaws you missed, but after so much time, you’ve probably also gained a few more snippets of skill you can now apply to your work. That’s right. Maybe through some means, you learned about consistent contractions, or never start a sentence with “But” or “And”, or mixing POVs (head hopping), or a host of other things that you can now incorporate into the work.

            This rest period might also highlight plot flaws you missed on the initial run-through.

BETA READERS

            If you’re lucky enough, give the story to a few beta readers and get their HONEST feedback. This may highlight things you cannot see because of forest through the trees.

STUFF PEOPLE DON’T LIKE

            There are many things people don’t like about editing. The repetition of having to go through the story again. Having a fear of not knowing what to do or how to fix something. The fear of changing too little or too much. The tediousness of it all. These are all understandable issues. Let’s look at a few things one-by-one.

1. YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING – While you can write the story okay, I’ve seen a lot of writers that just want to hire an editor and are willing to pay big bucks for it. They have all kinds of excuses for it like time, effort, they have the money, they don’t have the skill…bla bla bla. All are excuses for not sucking it up and getting with the program. However, there are always practical reasons for this approach as well, like a one-time project.
2. NO TIME – If you had the time to write the book, you should have or find the time to edit it.
3. NO FUN – If writing is a passion, editing is a part of it. Editing is like revisiting an old friend. You get to tweak and retweak to make the story even better for your potential audience.
4. DON’T HAVE THE SKILL – Back to #1. Of course, when you start out you don’t have the skill. That’s part of what editing is all about. It’s a learning process. The more you write, the more you learn how to write. The more you edit, the more you learn how to edit, and the more you learn how to self-edit, and the better you are at initially writing. Then, you have less to edit when you do subsequent edits on the next book. It’s a self-improving cycle. You can’t get better if you never start.

HOW YOU EDIT

            How you edit is important as well.

            On a computer, especially a program like Word, it’s a simple as correcting a sentence by deleting the word, sentence, paragraph or whatever and typing over it.

            If you’re writing on paper, it’s a bit different because you have to red-pencil or blue-pencil it, then come back and re-write it which makes it a lot more labor intensive.

            If your MS is in a .pdf, you may have to count lines and use a separate correction sheet, which is very labor intensive as well. Count down the lines. On the correction sheet, not the page number, then the line, then write down the correction for the publisher or editor.

            If you’re editing a manuscript online, it can be even more labor intensive, especially if you have to track the changes. Colors may be used and side notes to tell the editor what you changed and why. The editor may also use the side notes to suggest a change and let you agree or disagree with any changes, and why. This is a very labor-intensive process as well, but it pays in the long run.

SUMMARY

            The joys of editing are many, at least if you love writing and the process of it. Face it. If this is a passion, every aspect of the creative process should be loved as much.

            For me, revisiting the story and making it as perfect as possible are all part of it. As I read through the manuscript over and over again, I get a thrill to see my words down there, and what I’ve already created. I know that someday, those words will be out there for everyone to read. Hopefully, those words will bring entertainment and joy.

            Happy writing!