I've touched on the subject of editing my novel a few times, and if you'd let me, I'll carry on. Yesterday I finished editing my second draft and I'm about to start the third (and maybe the last) draft. I love editing, but over the last few days I've discovered that my confidence has grown more than I first thought. I'm still picky over phrases and sentences I really like and wondering if I should delete them or not, but in general I have a much clearer idea of what needs to be done to my stories. As it turns out, the distance I've gone from where I was to where I am has been gigantic, for me anyway. Suddenly, it seems as if the world has opened its arms for me and said, 'you're welcome, now'. When actually, we were always welcome.
Walk into the Light
I spent ages working on 'WIRCP', almost a year in fact. Writing it didn't take too long, two or three months, but it was the editing that took the most time. Not only getting the story all sorted, loose ends tied up and making sure it was a wholehearted, coherent piece of work, but grammatical mistakes to correct as well. Reading obviously helps understanding grammar better and now with editing 'ACICH', I know more about the tricky grammar bits. It sounds silly, but there are so many small details to stories that some of us don't know, but the answers sound obvious. In fact, a very kind editor of an anthology I submitted a story to had told me that when submitting for American audiences, use "this speech mark" instead of 'this one'. That helped massively, and a member at my writer's group said that English prose tend to use 'this speech mark' as well. I hadn't known this before. Small details like that can go a long way. You've got to start somewhere.
With 'WIRCP', it got to a point when the entire story was fine, everything ticked off, but I couldn't let go. I kept reading through half-hopeful I'd find something to correct. That's when I read an article in Writing Magazine that warned about the miseries of editing. If you edit for too long a time on one piece, you're apt to never stop and never get it out for the world to see. It made sense. I was scared to let go, in the same way a mother might be afraid to let their kid out to fend for themselves. Well, maybe it isn't the same. In the end, I stopped knowing that I made the novel as good as it needed to be and when I asked myself if I was happy with it, I said yes. And I still am. So proud of that story. Now, I'm editing my new novel and I'm much more aware of everything, the simple grammatical niggles are wiped away, the story works and now its just small consistency details in the story to mend- making sure the small things happen at the right time and whatnot. I love editing, and now that I understand how it works a whole lot more, I can expect results sooner than I did with 'WIRCP'. In the sense that I won't need to obsess for almost a year on it. I can trust myself.
With 'WIRCP', it got to a point when the entire story was fine, everything ticked off, but I couldn't let go. I kept reading through half-hopeful I'd find something to correct. That's when I read an article in Writing Magazine that warned about the miseries of editing. If you edit for too long a time on one piece, you're apt to never stop and never get it out for the world to see. It made sense. I was scared to let go, in the same way a mother might be afraid to let their kid out to fend for themselves. Well, maybe it isn't the same. In the end, I stopped knowing that I made the novel as good as it needed to be and when I asked myself if I was happy with it, I said yes. And I still am. So proud of that story. Now, I'm editing my new novel and I'm much more aware of everything, the simple grammatical niggles are wiped away, the story works and now its just small consistency details in the story to mend- making sure the small things happen at the right time and whatnot. I love editing, and now that I understand how it works a whole lot more, I can expect results sooner than I did with 'WIRCP'. In the sense that I won't need to obsess for almost a year on it. I can trust myself.
Take Me to Walter Reed
If there is one great hospital in the world where writers go because of illness we might suffer from such as worries about our work, obsessive editing, writers block or self-confidence, I guess you could say that we've all visited at least once. Annoyingly, as with most things, you've got to screw up before you get it right, unless of course you're lucky, and if you believe in luck. Anyway, It's nice to leave that said hospital for a while and be free. I reckon by the end of the month I could have 'ACICH' all wrapped up, and then it's onto the next venture. Should be a riot. It really was quite extraordinary to realize how much better I had become. Still can't believe I took so long to get over 'WIRCP' but I know now that it's important to be objective. Sure, you wrote the damn thing, but you've got to treat it no different to any other editing job. If it doesn't work, scrap the words and write new ones or none at all. Editing, a lot of it anyway is a deleting job. And I can't tell you how liberating it can feel to delete entire chapters. If it's an anchor, it's best to cut it loose.
Songs of the Week:
Songs of the Week:
- 'Where I Find My Heaven' by Gigolo Aunts
- 'Take' by The Lupins
- 'New Age Girl' by Deadeye Dick
- 'Are You Alright?' by Lucinda Williams
- 'Rescue' by Lucinda Williams
- 'Learning How to Live' by Lucinda Williams
- 'Sleep Better' by Pete Yorn
- 'Black' by Pete Yorn
- 'Walter Reed' by Michael Penn