Editing and Re-Writing

[MauEvig]

Well, those are all good points.
Even if the editor makes changes, or suggests changes, it's not like I have to agree with the changes if I don't want to.
Plus I plan on bringing beta readers on board to further smooth out the edges of my story. I think that'll help before the product is finalized.
I've decided to self publish honestly, because in the end I realized I want to retain the rights to the story. Sure, unless I miraculously sell thousands of copies it's probably not likely to wind up sitting in a big brick and mortar store. I might, upon marketing my story enough, be fortunate to see it sit on the shelves of smaller independent local stores.
But my perspective on this has changed quite a bit.
I knew the person I was going to ask to edit for a while now. She's been successful with her own works and I've seen other people turn to her for editing as well. I've seen her work, and I've seen what she can do.
I like what she's doing so far, don't 100% agree with every single change or word, but I'm hoping to at least get a decently polished script out of the ordeal. Plus she cut me a deal...I hear most editors charge thousands of dollars. Yikes!

 

[Ban]

I see this thread is in the wrong section of the forum. Writing challenges is meant for creating challenges (i.e. contests) for the forum to participate in. This is a writing discussion. skip.knox, Sheilawisz or Devor could you put it in the writing discussions section?

 

[MauEvig]

I see this thread is in the wrong section of the forum. Writing challenges is meant for creating challenges (i.e. contests) for the forum to participate in. This is a writing discussion. skip.knox, Sheilawisz or Devor could you put it in the writing discussions section?

My apologies. I took "challenges" to mean challenges in writing itself, or what challenges a writer faces when crafting their writing. Since I found editing challenging, that's why I posted it there.
May I suggest a description for the forum index for clarification? Or change the name of the forum to "contests" in order to clear up any further confusion?

 

[Sheilawisz]

My apologies. I took "challenges" to mean challenges in writing itself, or what challenges a writer faces when crafting their writing. Since I found editing challenging, that's why I posted it there.
May I suggest a description for the forum index for clarification? Or change the name of the forum to "contests" in order to clear up any further confusion?

Hello MauEvig!

Oh please don’t worry about that. Posting a thread in the wrong forum is no biggie, and moving stuff around is just a regular procedure. I think that somebody would have to keep doing that intentionally for days, for us to warn or something, ha ha!

No, I didn’t move the thread, somebody else moved it.

Well, have a great time!!

 

[LittleOwlbear]

I find it difficult to not... we say in German "verschlimmbessern" lol. It means making something worse while trying to make it better, aka editing it to death.
Of course editing is important, but the feeling and passion you had, while writing the scene the first time, won't come back when you are editing it. It could happen that you might take out all of what made your first draft special for you.
So editing is for me adding little details, rewriting sentences etc...

Personally, what I will never do, is taking out scenes completely, but I'm also much a "vibes over plot"-reader and writer, I think the characters, their little cute interactions and world is more important than the plot.

 

[skip.knox]

> the feeling and passion you had, while writing the scene the first time, won't come back when you are editing it.
I have not found this to be true, for me. Sometimes, it's been the opposite.

My first drafts are rather ham-handed. There are so many variable in play--the state of mind of the characters coming into the scene, the mechanics of the action, the setting, the tone when juxtaposed with what comes before and after. Is any magic being used? If so, I probably haven't thought it through yet, and need to work that out. I'm trying to juggle all that while attempting to write coherent sentences, viable dialog.

Moreover, a good many scenes aren't really works of passion. They're just scenes. Getting stuff done.

Once a scene has settled down, has its hat on and its shoes shined, that actually frees me to explore the emotions of the moment. I find I can sharpen the dialog. I can take time for more reaction shots, add details to the setting that can heighten tension or contribute to comedy or generally improve the scene. And that is often more gratifying and even exciting to me than writing that wretched muddle of a first draft.

We all come to the work by different paths. I describe this path so that at least a few writers out there are not scared off the editing process. Now, maybe "editing" means something different. Some folks will restrict the term to proofreading and copyediting, and call what I describe above as "revision". That's fine. I can say that even the supposedly dull work of copyedits--yes, even proofreading--still engages me. The writer in me is never quiescent; the work never burdens it into silence.

 

[MauEvig]

Honestly, I can kind see it. There's a certain energy you get when you write a scene you're excited for in the first draft. You might even be proud of the action, the character interactions, and the flow.
Then you get feedback that it's all wrong.
I struggled to finish the story I think because I felt myself pushing through it, but at that point I was told to just write and not worry about getting it perfect. I made the mistake of letting people give me feedback on writing that wasn't ready for feedback because the first draft simply wasn't finished yet. But I think because it took since 2012 to finish that might have been why. I had to be in the mood to even write, but I was determined to finish what I started even as my creative mind felt inclined to just move on with other projects. But that wasn't to do, I was going to finish Sky Kingdom one way or the other, I was determined this would be my first book. I was excited at first when I first started writing it, but somehow the excitement wore off. Now I struggle to get interested in writing this story again. The more I'm told I have to re-write scenes, the less excited I get. The more it feels like work instead of a fun adventure.
Still, somehow, I manage to edit during small crunches like during my lunch at work. This is of course, assuming the lady I work under isn't talking to me. I'd prefer not to talk about work on my lunch, it kind of defeats the purpose of an "uninterrupted" lunch break, yet while I could probably move my lunch to a different location it would be inconvenient to do so and I often feel obligated to have lunch at my desk. This is especially since I'm immediately working with students after eating. And they come in that room before I'm even done so the teacher works with them for a while until I'm "done" and then I have to immediately switch gears. It wasn't so at my old job, but what can you do? Right now I need steady income, so I'm not about to quit my day job anytime soon. (I enjoy what I do for the most part anyway, so this is a minor complaint on my end.)
But I eventually pushed through. I think the later chapters might've been hurried.
What gets me is that the first chapter, the chapter that I polished to a point where I thought it was nearly perfect and without blemish was COMPLETELY re-written. It's not bad, I like some of the changes, but others I don't find quite as satisfying. I'm also thoroughly annoyed that so much apparently "needed" to be changed. The first chapter wasn't even supposed to be chapter 1, but a prologue. I've been told to change it, then the editor thinks I should keep it that way. It doesn't feel like chapter 1 to me though, it feels like a prologue. Others say otherwise. But the show's not over until the fat lady sings, my beta readers will likely get the final say in how I should go as the project gets fine-tuned before publishing.
One scene in particular I was content to leave as a flash back until my editor insisted that I re-write it in more detail and actually have it be seen in an earlier chapter. I saw her point, but it was painful to write because I had almost zero inspiration or drive for the scene at all. I dragged through it, and I think the writing suffers as a result.
I'm not entirely sure what my point is here, I think I'm merely just rambling at the painstaking task that is editing.
But perhaps it takes getting through the "nitty gritty" to really go through the emotions of the story and the scene.
I'm learning a lot though, and honestly, I'm hoping the next time I go through this merry-go-round rodeo of sorts, I'll be more seasoned as a writer, and it won't be such a painful task.
The funny part is, it's easier for me to talk about writing by writing in a forum than it is to write a book. I wonder why that is.

 

[helenroberts]

I might be one of the few writers here who enjoys editing (most of the time at least).

To start with it's useful to know I have a weird brain. It's very, very good at forgetting the specifics of what I have written, even a week or two ago. I know the general stuff. Like the main plot etc, but no the detailed twists and turns. Which means that going back over my work let's me rediscover it again, a bit like re-reading a book you've read a few years ago. You know what's going to happen, but not exactly. It's also what lets me dive straight into editing after I've written "The End".

With that said, I find it helps to focus on a specific thing when doing an editing pass. Don't try to fix everything at once. Rather, first just add those missing scenes until the story is complete, then focus on spicing up the scenes that are a bit flat, then worry about having your characters have unique voices. That sort of thing.

When you're at it, try to enjoy the process, and try to see how you're improving the novel. Whenever I finish a first draft, I'm convinced the whole thing is terrible. Then when I go back, I find it's not all that bad. And as I'm editing, I'm pollishing and improving the whole time, to where I read it and I'm amazed I actually managed to create something like that. But I'm also a student, and it can be so hard for me when it comes to editing papers. I can edit and rewrite it a lot of times, and I will still find something I don't like. Sometimes, I just can't do anything, so I seek professional help or inspiration online. Last time this page https://edubirdie.com/examples/persuasive-essays/ helped me out a lot, and the provided there examples inspired me, so I managed to finish the whole process faster than usual.

It helps to track your progress. Know how far you've come and how much you get done in a session. Otherwise the whole process can feel endless and slow.

That's interesting to read. I don't know a lot of people who write, but each finds editing even harder than writing. For me, it's also not the easiest part, and it takes me a lot of time.
But we are all different.

 

[pmmg]

Writing is the harder part, for me. I find it just taxes a different part of my brain. Like I am bogged down with having to think it all up, and put it all down in a understandable way. Its work. Editing is not work in the same way. The story is told, I am just making it pretty. My brain is more in autopilot, and more in the realm of making it art, than making it written.

But does it matter? Both are required.

 

[The Dark One]

I enjoy editing and do it obsessively. I'm not exaggerating when I say that by the time one of my books is published I've read it 200 times.

No wonder I never look at them again once published.

I hated editing when I started writing but over the years I've come to love the process which has its own art and invention.

 

[Joe McM]

I also don’t like editing. But they’re all correct about its importance. What helps me through is alternating editing one novel wit’s writing the next.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

I actually enjoy editing, but I also edit a little strangely. Every day, depending on where in the story I'm drafting, I'll go back 3 or 4 chapters and do an editing sweep before launching into the day's new pages. This is a crucial part of my process - like, snacks crucial - because I get the chance to excavate new information about the story and the characters and how they manage their conflict. It's where I learn fun tidbits like Oh, by the way, your wizard trauma surgeon's a stimulant addict. Enjoy!

And then comes the real edits, done by my wife who pats my head, gives me coffee, and then does the really challenging work: Making me look smart.