The editing blues

[Simon Haynes]

How many words a day do you have to write to finish a novel a month, Simon?

Although I said 2000-2500 per day, I wrote 10,500 today and I reckon they're the best scenes in the book so far.

That's 42500 for November (13 days), or 3270 per day average.

This is a long novel, though. I breezed past my target of 75k and am now looking at 100,000.

I always start out slower, at least for the first couple of weeks, but towards the end it's like a gigantic rock rolling downhill. Can't stop if I want to.

[JRTomlin]

Impressive!

I spent the last couple of days writing a timeline of the Scottish War of Independence from 1309 to 1320 (it was a VERY long war) including a lot of detail of events and still figuring out exactly where to start the new novel. I MUST start actually writing. *sigh* I have a hard time editing a novel and writing a new one at the same time.

On editing, I'm in the latter part of this stage. I used the universal search to find every time I used the word 'heard' and reworded when I said Thomas 'heard' something to just show what he heard instead. Heard is fine in dialogue usually, so those I didn't reword.

[Simon Haynes]

Oh yes, that's something I do often. (heard, and saw/spotted/noticed as well.)


Today I ordered an out of print hardback on everyday life in victorian london. Looking forward to that one.


PS just as well you're not writing about the Reconquista, or 800 year war, in Spain.

[notthatamanda]

How many words a day do you have to write to finish a novel a month, Simon?

Although I said 2000-2500 per day, I wrote 10,500 today and I reckon they're the best scenes in the book so far.

That's 42500 for November (13 days), or 3270 per day average.

This is a long novel, though. I breezed past my target of 75k and am now looking at 100,000.

I always start out slower, at least for the first couple of weeks, but towards the end it's like a gigantic rock rolling downhill. Can't stop if I want to.

Wow that is impressive.
How are your hands not falling off?

[JRTomlin]

Oh yes, that's something I do often. (heard, and saw/spotted/noticed as well.)


Today I ordered an out of print hardback on everyday life in victorian london. Looking forward to that one.


PS just as well you're not writing about the Reconquista, or 800 year war, in Spain.

Funnily enough I actually wrote about one battle in that war, since James Douglas died in it. But only one, thank goodness. A war that lasted 32 years is quite long enough for me.

PS I have a list of words I check for but 'heard' is the one I go "I used it HOW many times?!" 

[Simon Haynes]

How are your hands not falling off?

No idea!

But then it's pretty light work compared to, say, eight hours hammering up old floor tiles.

Also, 10k is a lot, but if you write for 14 hours straight it's not too much per hour.

[Maggie Ann]

I promised myself last night when I finished my writing session on book 2 that I would plug in ten pages of notes and corrections from my editor today.

Okay, I've walked the dog, put away the laundry, emptied the dishwasher, watered the orchids and inspected them thoroughly for new growth and even yelled at the grandson for not mowing the entire lawn plus I came here to whine. Can anybody think of something else I can do to procrastinate? No? Okay. Ten pages starting now.

 

[JRTomlin]

Getting into a political debate on twitter usually works for me.

[Maggie Ann]

Getting into a political debate on twitter usually works for me.

I'll have to remember that for tomorrow.

I did 9.5 pages. It was a mess. A lot of the edits were changing the way I write. Most likely only a handful of people will read the darned book anyway so I'll stick with my style.

At the same time, a lot of the comments were good. I only stopped because the last comment concerned suggestions for enhancing the atmosphere, which I know I need to do. I just have to decide how I want to handle it.

 

[JRTomlin]

However, as much as I hate editing, it is also possible for me to become obsessed with it. I have re-written the very last scene, a brief hand-to-hand fight, in this novel about fifteen times trying to get it perfect. And I am now at the 'I will go over this novel looking for a word to change somewhere' point. At which point, I find it a good idea to make myself back slowly away from the keyboard.

ETA: In this case, it may take a gun to my forehead for me to stop picking at it.

[notthatamanda]

Is this a cry for help?  Do we need to bring out the virtual guns?

[JRTomlin]

I forced myself to send it to my line editor. That should make me leave it alone. Otherwise, I may need you guys to tie my hands down.

[Maggie Ann]

I forced myself to send it to my line editor. That should make me leave it alone. Otherwise, I may need you guys to tie my hands down.

We'll take away your plaid if you don't stop. Humph.

[JRTomlin]

Noooo... Not my plaid.

[Doglover]

I quite enjoy editing my own work; in fact, I never really know when to stop. Editing someone else's work though, is totally tedious. I edit for a friend and I have to do a chapter a day otherwise I'd end up falling asleep.

[notthatamanda]

Yes I could go on forever as well.  I'm very motivated by the prospect of finishing, although also somewhat terrified by it at the same time.

[Jake]

For me, editing (rewriting, cycling, reworking, developmental editing, substantive editing, restructuring, deleting words, adding words, refining - seriously, whatever you want to call it) is far more than moving a few words around. And yes, it's this process that often turns average books into brilliant ones. Well, that's what many of the 20th century masters claim, anyway.

I agree that proofreading is an extremely tedious, yet necessary pain in the ass. So, if that was what you were talking about, then never mind - I agree.

I both love AND hate editing. It's not fun. In fact for me the only parts about writing that are fun is the beginning, during the outlining stage when I'm creating the story in my mind, and the part where I type "the end" and the book is finished. Everything in between is work. But I agree that editing is more important than a lot of people realize and it's not just to fix grammer or remove typos.

The problem is that most self-published writers who are trying to get books out as fast as possible can't always afford to spend too much time on the editing process, which is a shame. The editing phase truly is the part where the mediocre becomes good and the good becomes great. That doesn't make it any less of a chore though!

[Doglover]

Yes I could go on forever as well.  I'm very motivated by the prospect of finishing, although also somewhat terrified by it at the same time.

I usually love my own stories. I get an idea and cannot wait to get it down on paper. Then, I start to go over it again, and again and the more I do that, the more in love with it I become. So, I never want to part with it. Once it is finally finished and I've uploaded it, I feel bereft and lost, because usually the next idea hasn't formed enough to start. 

[JRTomlin]

I am so the opposite. Once I have written it, I want to be done with it and move on. I am sooo tired of faffing about with Noble Traitor, I can't even tell you. Yet until it is published, I can't leave it alone. It's like a kid with a scab they keep picking at. I should have the second proofread back in a few days, so I can get it to a few ARC readers. Then it's just a matter of publishing it and I don't want to do that for another two weeks, so by that time, I'll be a twitching mess because after the last proofread I won't allow myself to touch it for fear of putting in a new typo.

Working on the next novel is helping a little but there is still the urge to go see if there isn't some verb I could make stronger. 

[VanessaC]

I am so the opposite. Once I have written it, I want to be done with it and move on. I am sooo tired of faffing about with Noble Traitor, I can't even tell you. Yet until it is published, I can't leave it alone. It's like a kid with a scab they keep picking at. I should have the second proofread back in a few days, so I can get it to a few ARC readers. Then it's just a matter of publishing it and I don't want to do that for another two weeks, so by that time, I'll be a twitching mess because after the last proofread I won't allow myself to touch it for fear of putting in a new typo.

Working on the next novel is helping a little but there is still the urge to go see if there isn't some verb I could make stronger. 

I get this. I've just finished the complete first draft - some bits have been gone over, some bits just written - and tomorrow I start editing. By the time I get to the end I often can't tell if it's good or not, or even if I've got a complete story and I just want it off my desk. Luckily, I send it to my lovely beta reader who will absolutely tell me if it's readable or not. That also gives me a little bit of space to "forget" about it before it comes back for the final polish.

Oh, and in this particular draft everyone is grim faced at some point, so I'm going to be elbow-deep in a thesaurus at some point trying to figure out variants for that and restructuring sentences like a woman possessed to avoid repeating myself too much.

Oh, the joys!

 

[Gerri Attrick]

Hell's teeth, but I loathe and detest editing. Once I've finished the story, I want done with it, and off to pastures new.

Yes, it's a chore, yes, it's got to be done, and yes, I do it, but I can't help thinking that after 18 novels, I should be able to get it right first time. Why can't I do that, eh? Why, why, why?

[idontknowyet]

I will say I haven't really edited much, and I doubt that most of you would consider what I've done an edit.  But I think I kinda like editing. I hop books a lot. Like too much but this month I settled on one that is almost done. When I get to the almost done point I usually superficially read through to find out where I need to finish, fill holes, or if there is a problem fix it.

Two days this month I didn't feel like writing. At all... Full stop... do not pass go... don't collect two hundred dollars

So I read. Like really read the parts I had written a few months some even over a year ago, and I liked it. Like the words were good. The feelings were there. Instead of rushing through looking for holes I read and did a preliminary edit. Over about  63 pages in two days overall I added about 300 words to my manuscript, but it was really a bit more since I found I took out quite a few redundant words.

How can editing be fun?

[elleoco]

How can editing be fun?

Got me. Different strokes for different folks. I wouldn't say editing is fun exactly, but for me getting the first draft done is miserable. When procrastination includes housework....

So editing (NOT proofreading) is fun relatively. Ah ha, improved that sentence, didn't I! Wow, that fixed that. Tweak, tweak.

Maybe it also has to do with knowing I'm at the beginning of a big project as opposed to knowing I'm closing in on the finish. Too bad we can't all be blessed with liking it all.

[idontknowyet]

I couldn't proofread to save my life. I add more typos than I take away and grammar... Nough said.

[JRTomlin]

Now that novel is completely done and I am itching to get it out there. *pulls hand away from the publish button*

[notthatamanda]

I'm in comma hell right now. I had a nice 4 star review recently but they said "too many commas". So now I'm triple/quadruple guessing every comma, which I normally second guess and internally debating the comma rules I set for myself, as I use read aloud to finish up my WIP.
 

[idontknowyet]

Now that novel is completely done and I am itching to get it out there. *pulls hand away from the publish button*

Did you do it yet?

[idontknowyet]

I'm in comma hell right now. I had a nice 4 star review recently but they said "too many commas". So now I'm triple/quadruple guessing every comma, which I normally second guess and internally debating the comma rules I set for myself, as I use read aloud to finish up my WIP.
 

You can set comma rules.

I think I want to go back under my rock and hide now please.

[notthatamanda]

I'm in comma hell right now. I had a nice 4 star review recently but they said "too many commas". So now I'm triple/quadruple guessing every comma, which I normally second guess and internally debating the comma rules I set for myself, as I use read aloud to finish up my WIP.
 

You can set comma rules.

I think I want to go back under my rock and hide now please.

Not in Word, in case that is what you thought I meant, I just have my own set I try to adhere to. In non dialogue I comma everything that could be in parenthesis or time frames at the start of a sentence. In dialogue, listening it to it in the read aloud makes it easy to decide where the commas are.

The perils of the comma:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/10/25/comma/

[W.R. Gingell]

I don't hate the process of editing (I do pretty light ones; tease out the threads that need more clarity with a few touches, fix up grammar and unclear sentences, fix dangling plot threads, etc) but I HATE transferring the changes from my hard copy edits to the computer. HATE IT.

And yes, I always do hard copy edits because I catch more that way, and can leave sticky notes for stuff I don't wanna fix by handwriting.

BUT WE HATES IT PRECIOUS.

[notthatamanda]

I reread the print version when I get it from my formatter, and I can't believe how many more errors I find. It never ends.