The Joys of Editing

Ishbu

So I've been working on a comedy novel recently, but something about it was troubling me. Tonight I went through and slashed entire paragraphs of text that just weren't working. And it felt great. I actually consider going back through and refining my rough drafts to be one of the most fun parts about writing.

Occasionally I'll print everything out, put it in a binder, and use glorious red ink to do the surgeries. Other times I'm less formal.

How do you guys edit? Do you print it out and go through it with a red pen? Just edit it in software?

Orikaeshigitae

i have a hard time editing on the computer, since i always get really nitpicky. printing it out allows me to see the bigger picture and cross out entire paragraphs instead of two or three words at a time.

but yeah, editing is pretty cool. for me, it's much easier than actually writing the thing.

matisyahu

I get too distracted on the computer, I print it out and mark it up with a pen.

takyris

I read through correcting only typos while making separate notes on structural or thematic elements that need to change. When I've got a good solid list, usually in a wiki, I hit the items in terms of what I think I can handle at the time, regardless of where it comes in the novel. Moving a character out of one location and into another? Sure. Adding a reference to something I needed to foreshadow in three different places early on? Done. And so forth.

When I've done all the out-of-order stuff, I head through again with a big old editing scythe to clean up the text and make sure that things still read well -- that my out-of-order edits haven't made two good scenes fit together poorly.

Then I go back one more time and cut another 10%, or thereabouts.

Speed Racer

I definitely like editing a piece better than writing it. It's a lot easier to tweak and refine something than it is to initially come up with it, for me anyway.

ruzkin

That's a good way to feel about it. It's hard for a lot of writers to man the fuck up and accept that their first drafts will always be shit, and that the real meat of writing is in the editing process.

I edit on paper. It's much easier to see big concepts and where entire paragraphs (or sometimes whole scenes) should be slashed when you can spread all the pages out on a table and scribble.

The_Scarab

I will print out an entire section, or a chapter or just a scene.

Then I will highlight in yellow important events. Bits of dialogue I like, or particularly well written passages or phrases.

Then I will rewrite the entire thing from scratch, using the things from the last draft I felt were good.


I know it is a gloriously roundabout way of editing but it helps me cut out crap that I dont need. When you look at a paragraph and realise the only important part is 'then I ate the apple' you realise your 300k text is really 150k of meaningful work.

Then i follow the standard procedures of editing. Rearranging paragraphs, typos etc. But the grand slash and burn rewrite has worked for me. Often I will blast something down and look back and think you know what, not even rearranging this will work. Just start anew knowing the basic format and structure and it always ends up being a better written piece.

Also, if you do intend to print it off to proofread, always try to print at a scale that will kind of match the size of the publication it will be finally printed on.

This helps with pacing. While one long flowing paragraph might be beautiful to read in Word in helvetica 12pt when you put it into times or sans serif at a more publishable size and page width you might find the line breaks will break up the flow.

Of course dont do this banking on having words ending pages and stuff, all that can be arranged later with your publisher. im talking things like paragraph length or line spacing etc.


Also, I dont read aloud when rereading it. I read much faster in my head and that is how everyone reads books.
This informs your pacing and sentence structure I've found.





I spend so much time obsessing over the flow of the words. If I am listing something, I'll always try five different orders for them.

Apples, Oranges, Grapes, Horseradish and Pineapple.

Then I'll go back and think, it would be better if it was 'Apple and Oranges. Grapes, pineapple. Horseradish.'

Man, I spend so much time doing that it is insane. Im looking at two things when editing. Is the narrative coherent and is the way it is presented ok. Sometimes I'll rewrite entire sections because while the plot is good i can infer more if i do it another way.


All of this essentially means I write three times as much as I need and have so much crap left over. I know editing in another way would be easier and better but im just used to it.

Uncle Long

I love writing and I loathe editing. I'd bang out a new book every month if I didn't have to edit. But, grudgingly, I know well the usefulness and necessity of good editing and my work is always better once I've slogged through it with a red pen. Now, of course, if only I had some nun standing over me with a yard stick prepped for striking if I spend too much time wasting time, maybe I'd feel like less of a schlub when I take a month to edit something I could have done in a weekend.

One can dream.

Darius Black

I have to say I spend about 75% of my time editing a piece. No joke. I'm so obsessive with it that some days, after two hours of writing, I'll have nothing new done - sometimes even less than when I started. But it's a means to an end.

And I do it all in Word. None of your fancy printing and highlighting jazz.

jacripe

Editing is a love/hate thing with me. Sometimes it goes very smoothly, other times I can't do a thing with it. I usually ask my sister, Laurie, to help me edit stuff as I got the best grades on the poems she edited with me in High School english. Now she's in Baghdad, working nights so we don't get to talk to much anymore. I need to see if she has a DSN number I can reach her at or something... E-mail I guess.

Anyways, I don't write very long stuff. Whenever I try to write something long I either realize I have no plot for it or what plot I do have ends up eroding after a few pages. Because of that, I pretty much stick to flash fiction/short stories and poetry. This comic is the most ambitious project I've undertaken so far and the editing on it is a little weird. It's mostly dialog between my brother and I and I'll add notes to remind myself and then tack the revised portions on underneath the original. It seems to be working, because it still allows me to see my prior mind frame which helps me when I can't figure something out. What was I trying to say before since I can't think of what to say now?

witchipu

I just go over and over and over it in the Word document it was born in... and then print it out and mark it in red, and then enter the marks... until I'm happy-ish, then go forward.

ruzkin

The_Scarab wrote: »

I will print out an entire section, or a chapter or just a scene.

Then I will highlight in yellow important events. Bits of dialogue I like, or particularly well written passages or phrases.

Then I will rewrite the entire thing from scratch, using the things from the last draft I felt were good.


I know it is a gloriously roundabout way of editing but it helps me cut out crap that I dont need. When you look at a paragraph and realise the only important part is 'then I ate the apple' you realise your 300k text is really 150k of meaningful work.

Then i follow the standard procedures of editing. Rearranging paragraphs, typos etc. But the grand slash and burn rewrite has worked for me. Often I will blast something down and look back and think you know what, not even rearranging this will work. Just start anew knowing the basic format and structure and it always ends up being a better written piece.

Also, if you do intend to print it off to proofread, always try to print at a scale that will kind of match the size of the publication it will be finally printed on.

This helps with pacing. While one long flowing paragraph might be beautiful to read in Word in helvetica 12pt when you put it into times or sans serif at a more publishable size and page width you might find the line breaks will break up the flow.

Of course dont do this banking on having words ending pages and stuff, all that can be arranged later with your publisher. im talking things like paragraph length or line spacing etc.


Also, I dont read aloud when rereading it. I read much faster in my head and that is how everyone reads books.
This informs your pacing and sentence structure I've found.





I spend so much time obsessing over the flow of the words. If I am listing something, I'll always try five different orders for them.

Apples, Oranges, Grapes, Horseradish and Pineapple.

Then I'll go back and think, it would be better if it was 'Apple and Oranges. Grapes, pineapple. Horseradish.'

Man, I spend so much time doing that it is insane. Im looking at two things when editing. Is the narrative coherent and is the way it is presented ok. Sometimes I'll rewrite entire sections because while the plot is good i can infer more if i do it another way.


All of this essentially means I write three times as much as I need and have so much crap left over. I know editing in another way would be easier and better but im just used to it.

I gave this technique a go recently and it worked wonders. Go Scarab!

jacripe

I think I'll try that next time. You suppose it could work for comics too?

The_Scarab

The basic premise to that method is that when you do your first write you just splurge your brain out on a page. When you arent worried too much with structure or pacing you often come up with some killer one liners, or descriptions or similes.

Then when you rewrite you can very easily recognise those choice nuggets worth saving. Particularly well flowing lines, good pieces of dialogue. Important plot details.