When it's Time to Stop Editing

[skip.knox]

I don't see editing as a single thing but rather as a conglomeration of things, each of which has its own stopping points.

Consider plot, setting, character, and theme. Now consider correction versus improvement. Add in grammar, spelling, diction. Don't forget pacing. Or clarity, and consistency. I get tired just looking at the list, which is not comprehensive.

Where to stop? Heck, where to *start*?

I'd start with those first four, and I'd focus on corrections and improvements. Start with the easiest, which would be corrections. I know I said gray eyes, but now I want blue (shout out to Summoner Geeks). Are there mistakes in the setting, in characters (behaviors as well as appearance as well as story knowledge)? This is where consistency and clarity apply. A common example would be how a character speaks. Is this consistent through the story? All this is sometimes called the bones of the story. If there are problems at this level, they will undercut everything that's built on top of them. Plot corrections is mostly plot holes but can also be contradictions or events evolving out of logical order.

If the bones are solid, then you can start to look at improvements. Should a character be more developed, or developed earlier (or later)? Does the setting need work; for example, are there too many conversations in the white room? Is there room to make each character's voice more distinctive? Or more recognizable? Improving the plot often means improving the pacing.

Now the fun part. After you've made all your improvements, you have to do the corrections step again, because you've almost certainly introduced continuity errors.

The examples in the OP were more focused on diction, or what is sometimes called style. Is the description vivid, clear, and compelling? Improvements (and corrections) here can happen most any time, but I suggest it get done while you are rewriting that character's dialog, or this description of the setting. Since you are already rewriting, you can pay attention to the writing itself.

Whew. Now back to the question. If I'm reading the manuscript for consistency and clarity in dialog, I'm making notes as I go. I try not to make changes because I'm too easily distracted. The next pass is for making those changes. This is an attempt to separate the editor function from the writer function. Other passes for setting and plot, but honestly I very often wind up making notes on every aspect as I go. Anyway, as long as there's nothing huge like "two more chapters here", then I go through making the changes and that's done.

To put it another way: one editorial pass, one revision pass. That's the aim. It's rarely that tidy, but it's good to have goals, or so say the players. Once that's done, there could be another round or not. Depends largely on how extensive those first revisions were.

But there is a goal. The goal is to get the manuscript to a point where I'm not embarrassed to offer the story to beta readers. It doesn't have to be great, but it has to be to the point where I feel like I wouldn't be wasting their time. This is subjective and you won't have an unambiguous feeling on your first book. It will take a few.

The beta readers (or a hired editor) will present me with another round of revisions. See above.

Then it's one or two more passes for proofreading. Here is where spellcheck and grammar tools step forward. At this point, I'm not really revising any more. In fact, I regard the manuscript as frozen, except for spelling errors and the like.

Then it's off to the wonderful world of formatting! *shudder*

 

[Righmath]

Exactly how many edits have you done?

 

[Righmath]

Asking for a friend.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

My final pass these days is the audiobook read, or at least that's my plan. I'm about 1/4 through the Contessa's audiobook, and reading things over and over and over while making mistakes is a great way to find little goofs and improvements, heh heh.

 

[R. R. Hunter]

To put it another way: one editorial pass, one revision pass

All of that is solid advice, thank you very much! I almost fell into the pattern you mentioned, but couldn't help but make touch ups during my re-reads. I feel like the bones are pretty solid, I watched for plot holes with extreme prejudice lol. Only a few patches needed to be made in that department. I feel the characters remain consistant and their arcs have them going through believable changes.

Really, I'm just fixing the wording and (perhaps this is character voice) inflections. Ie: (excuse the roughness) The door was tall vs Lady approached the oversized wooden door. Never before had she seen a taller entryway.

Exactly how many edits have you done?

I'm currently sitting on 92,000 words that took me about three months to birth. If I'm not mistaken, I just finished pass number five for edits.

 

[R. R. Hunter]

reading things over and over and over while making mistakes is a great way to find little goofs and improvements, heh heh.

This! So much this. Especially for any writer who plans for an audiobook. Some sentences read find, but come off awkward when read aloud. I've done this myself on a few spots and found sentences that needed touch ups

 

[Rexenm]

I found that setting things aside to cool down never worked for me. It might last for about 3 pages, but very quickly, I will be back to the same mode as if I never stepped away in the first place.

I remember the beginning of the digital age for me had me staring at a blank screen.

 

[CrystalD]

I edit as I go right now, because I find as I'm writing book 1, draft 1, the plot and characters keep on evolving, and I need to go back in and add info here and there that would make sense to the story thus far. I think it's easir than waiting until I'm done with the whole story, an I have to read things to remember where I was sometimes, so I edit sparingly then also. But really, edit until your brain says it's as good as it's gonna get. I already know I have too many "she" pronouns in the story, and it drives me nuts so that'll be a major part of draft 2 when I'm done with the entire thing lol.

 

[Rexenm]

Whew. Now back to the question. If I'm reading the manuscript for consistency and clarity in dialog, I'm making notes as I go. I try not to make changes because I'm too easily distracted. The next pass is for making those changes. This is an attempt to separate the editor function from the writer function. Other passes for setting and plot, but honestly I very often wind up making notes on every aspect as I go. Anyway, as long as there's nothing huge like "two more chapters here", then I go through making the changes and that's done.

This seems like my fix.

 

[ThinkerX]

Just before I started book 3 And I will again soon. I have to add some small things that book 3 brought up. Like, I decided there would be a new type of metal somewhere along the way, and it would have been present in book one. So I have to go mention it. That kind of stuff.

You will find multiple other items that need to be added, altered, or deleted.

 

[Prince of Spires]

What is your goal with your story? This partially determines the answer I think. The number of edits will be different if you just want to tell yourself a story, if you want to publish it or if you're aiming for literary rewards.

There are a few ways to consider it.

The main one is that if you're no longer improving the story (a lot) but rather just making it different with each pass, then it's time to stop. Does it really improve the story if your characters go straight ahead instead of take a left? Or if they end up with blue eyes instead of brown? Or whatever.

Another way to consider it is that you can give yourself a goal with each editing pass. Once you've met that goal, you're done with that step and it's time to move on. This is more the approach if you just want to publish a good enough book (perfect is the enemy of done...). Your first pass, you look at the story structure and the pacing, second pass, you look at character voice, third pass, you go over sentence level details, and so on. With each pass, you focus on smaller details. At some point, you can't go smaller, and then you're done.

Finaly, there is my approach. I stop editing when I'm sick and tired of the piece. I've found, that it's 3 passes after the first draft, and then it's off to an editor. First a high level evaluation on story structure and plot and pacing, then a character voice pass, and then a detailed one, where I fix individual words. After that I don't want to look at the thing again and just write something new, so that's what I do.

The main thing here is to remember that, as with all things writing related, it's what works for you. Some people never edit (or rather, edit as they go), and simply publish once they're done (Dean Wesley Smith for instance). Others keep polishing over and over until it's shiny and bright (Patrick Rothfuss). You can find best-sellers and 6+ figure authors in both categories. One approach isn't better than the other, it's just what works for you.

Same with putting a piece aside. For some people this is golden. For me, when I finish a manuscript I jump straight into editing it. I've found that for me this approach works best. So try out a few things.

 

[Nighty_Knight]

You could also write something else for awhile. Then come back with a fresh set of eyes and even more skill and experience. Hit that one last draft then.

That’s kinda what I ended up doing. Did two drafts of a novella. Then completed two drafts of a second novella, then did the third draft of the first novella. I was assuming I would be a bit better by the time I went back to finish really working on the first.

 

[R. R. Hunter]

You could also write something else for awhile.

I actually did! I wrote 6 chapters that I thought turned out rather good! Went back the first book and added an epilogue and which makes the rest of the manuscript look like even more of a pile of not-to-bad scraps

 

[Penpilot]

Knowing when to walk away is a skill just like any other. The first time I realized it was time to walk away was with my first novel, a 275k mess. I was on draft 4, when I realized, I was just shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic. I had taken the story as far as I could take it with my current skills, and it was time to move on.

Nowadays, after several novels, this is my rough checklist. I make sure the plot flows how I want. I make sure the scenes flow how I want. I make sure the story is saying what I want. After that, I make a few polishing passes to tighten and pretty up the prose and then I'm done. I don't try to make it perfect, because inevitably, I start to loose track of the big picture, and I end up making things worse.

I get the story to the point where I think, worst case, what the story is about and what the characters are about still shines through, even if the edges are a bit rough. I think the stories tend to be better than that, but that's the floor I'm working with. I'm betting that people will be able to see beyond the rough spots, if there aren't too many, and if the spine of the story is strong. IMHO, it's easier to buy a story that only needs another polishing pass than story that has a messed up spine.