Editing
That word sends shivers down your spine, doesn't it?
When you're looking at 20,000+ words, the task of editing can seem really daunting. Well, don't worry because it's supposed to feel that way.
There will be things you want to change.
There will be grammar and spelling errors.
There will be rewrites.
There will be plot holes.
There will be scenes you love that need to go.
There will be characters you love that need to be cut.
There will be paragraphs that make you wonder how sober you were when you wrote them. -_-
This will all happen no matter how long you spent planning and plotting and detailing. Some seemingly glaring mistakes will only show up after you've spent months writing the whole damn thing. You will hate your book as much as you love it as this point. It won't take away your pride in finishing, but it will certainly diminish it.
The first draft will suck. Well, it will suck when you compare it to the second draft. Which will suck when judged against the third.
That's okay. It' supposed to. That's the good thing about editing. It gets so much better than what you started with.
Don't know much about editing? That's okay too. Most editing will come naturally to you. For the bits that don't? Well, you aren't alone. There are plenty of wonderful resources and advice that come with the internet. Read around, find what works for you and roll with it.
For resources, I love Janice Hardy's blog. The woman is a genius. Here's a post from her on first drafts.
Here's another from Writer Sense on writing a rough draft.
Nathan Bransford has a wonderful revision checklist.
My tips for editing? I have three.
1. Read it backwards.
Why? Can you raed this even thuogh it's all mesesd up?
That's because your brain tries so hard to fix things for you so you aren't driven to ice-cream benders by typos. Most of the time it's useful. Not so much when you editing. Reading backwards stops your mind auto-correcting.
2. Read it. Now do it out loud.
Why? You'll notice pesky paragraphs and too-long sentences. A good thing to remember is that a full stop is a three second pause, a comma is one. Keeping that in mind will show you if you have too many paused or if you aren't letting enough space for an out-loud reader to breath.
3. Read it to someone else.
Why? Do they look bored or interested? Confused or intrigued? The real test is whether or not they ask you to read more.
Do you do things differently? Have you any more resources that are great for editing? Let me know in the comments!
When you're looking at 20,000+ words, the task of editing can seem really daunting. Well, don't worry because it's supposed to feel that way.
There will be things you want to change.
There will be grammar and spelling errors.
There will be rewrites.
There will be plot holes.
There will be scenes you love that need to go.
There will be characters you love that need to be cut.
There will be paragraphs that make you wonder how sober you were when you wrote them. -_-
This will all happen no matter how long you spent planning and plotting and detailing. Some seemingly glaring mistakes will only show up after you've spent months writing the whole damn thing. You will hate your book as much as you love it as this point. It won't take away your pride in finishing, but it will certainly diminish it.
The first draft will suck. Well, it will suck when you compare it to the second draft. Which will suck when judged against the third.
That's okay. It' supposed to. That's the good thing about editing. It gets so much better than what you started with.
Don't know much about editing? That's okay too. Most editing will come naturally to you. For the bits that don't? Well, you aren't alone. There are plenty of wonderful resources and advice that come with the internet. Read around, find what works for you and roll with it.
For resources, I love Janice Hardy's blog. The woman is a genius. Here's a post from her on first drafts.
Here's another from Writer Sense on writing a rough draft.
Nathan Bransford has a wonderful revision checklist.
My tips for editing? I have three.
1. Read it backwards.
Why? Can you raed this even thuogh it's all mesesd up?
That's because your brain tries so hard to fix things for you so you aren't driven to ice-cream benders by typos. Most of the time it's useful. Not so much when you editing. Reading backwards stops your mind auto-correcting.
2. Read it. Now do it out loud.
Why? You'll notice pesky paragraphs and too-long sentences. A good thing to remember is that a full stop is a three second pause, a comma is one. Keeping that in mind will show you if you have too many paused or if you aren't letting enough space for an out-loud reader to breath.
3. Read it to someone else.
Why? Do they look bored or interested? Confused or intrigued? The real test is whether or not they ask you to read more.
Do you do things differently? Have you any more resources that are great for editing? Let me know in the comments!
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