Although many of my wonderful
writer tweeples responded with glee, I got more than a couple of messages that
went along the lines of err, I don't know, Ava. Editing? Want to do
mine for me? *wink wink*
It got me thinking.
Once upon a time, long, long ago in a galaxy
far, far away, I used to hate editing. It's not that I thought it unnecessary—I knew it
was necessary—I just couldn't stand the thought of re-reading something I wrote
half a dozen (or—God forbid—more) times. I'd already done the hard work of
getting the first draft down, did I really want to spend months or years
flipping things around and cutting passages and adding new things and
re-reading re-writing re-reading re-writing?
Over the course of trunking many-a-novel, I
learned the hard way about the importance of editing—real editing,
and I realized that if I was going to bring the fullest potential out of my
stories, I had to learn to love to edit. Period.
Surprisingly, saying ok, I need to
love editing now didn't magically make me start to love to edit.
What did change my opinion of editing (and this is a little
surprising), was editing the same WIP over the course of two and a half
years.
I'll admit, initially I got pretty sick of it,
and when I discovered after a break from the WIP that it needed complete
re-writing after a couple of rounds of edits already, I resisted the process. I
didn't want to re-write it—it would take weeks, and then I'd
probably need to edit it again and what if it needed more re-writing
after that?
I rewrote it. Then something weird
happened.
 |
| Photo credit: AlaskaTeacher on Flickr |
And suddenly, editing wasn't so bad after
all.
When I didn't like editing, I was looking at
it all the wrong way—I thought of it as this extra step, this
horrendous extra task that inevitably meant more hard work and
when I sat down in front of the computer I thought, ugh, I have to edit
today.
What I didn't realize is that editing is so
much more than that—it's a chance to refine your work, to really make your
writing shine, and once you start to see your work evolve, well, it can be kind
of fun.
I'm not saying editing isn't hard, time-consuming
work—it absolutely is. What I am saying is that the way you
look at it can largely change your experience.
Let's face it, if you want to be a writer,
you're going to be doing a lot of editing. Whether it's
editing your first or second or fifth or fifteenth draft, editing your query
letter or synopsis or author bio or blurb, editing your first book or your
twentieth book, the life of the writer is an endless cycle of writing and
editing and editing and writing.
It's part of the process, and it's a step that
you can't skip. So if we have to do it anyway, we might as well try to enjoy
it, right?
What do you think? Am I crazy for loving to
edit? What are your favorite and least favorite parts of the editing process?
22 comments:
I love editing as well. I don't know what it is, but editing is my favourite part of the whole process because I get to play the reader (sort of) and I'm able to change things and be completely honest with myself. I think being able to motivate yourself is great for when it comes to editing because if you're not enthusiastic about making your work better then it's just going to stress you out and that's never good when it comes to being creative (unless you're painting, in which case get all of those emotions out and onto the canvas).
Great post!
-Joseph
www.josepheastwood.com
I've found this really nice balance where I've learned to like just about every stage of the writing process (except synopsis writing...still hate synopsis writing). Regardless, I have to agree--being enthusiastic about making your work better is a huge help.
Personally, I find it's really hard for me to get over the hump -- I find it intimidating and, if my story is complex enough, bewildering. But once I get into it, I start really enjoying it and I re-engage with the story on a whole new level.
Standing in front of a mountain of fixes and rewrites is certainly intimidating, but once you start taking the tasks one at a time and, as you said, really get into it, it starts to become much more enjoyable.
I think the world splits into two camps -- those who prefer writing and those who prefer editing. I'd always fallen into the second camp until I dug my way out. My solution? Refusing to edit WHILE I write. I wonder if this solution might work for you as well? It sounds as though you're doing continual editing. No wonder you get tired of it!
This weekend. I swear I'll start this weekend. Sigh.
I actually agree with your method--I don't edit while I write either, otherwise I'd take me far too long to get anything written. There are things to enjoy from both the drafting stages and from the editing stages and I've taught myself to have fun along the way regardless of the stage I'm in. :)
You can do it!
Great post, Ava. I agree--I love editing. I also only developed a taste for it after slaving over a manuscript for several years. Not only do things improve overall, but I've learned that if I can't reread a scene more than a couple of times without being sick of it, it probably needs some work.
"
I've learned that if I can't reread a scene more than a couple of times without being sick of it, it probably needs some work."
That's kind of a funny way of looking at it, but I know exactly what you mean. Any new passages added between edits need extra attention, if only because they haven't been slaved over quite as much as the rest of the WIP.
I am so glad you found your inner enjoyment of editing, for me, I still am not a fan. There are times when I enjoy editing, like the first couple edits, then a work sits and I read it again and go, shit, it needs another complete edit. That's when I want to cringe. Thankfully, I've gotten better with the first drafts and those WIP I've written more recently have taken far less edits. As always, good post.
Editing is like doing sit-ups: not always fun, but don't the results look and feel good? Anyway, I don't always like editing, but I always love the satisfaction of feeling a piece that was bothering me jogging back into place to make the whole book better.
Thanks, Lori! Editing can certainly be painful at times (even though I enjoy it, doesn't mean I don't want to occasionally bash my head against a wall while doing it), but all the hard work and effort you put into it is certainly worth it once you have a sparkling final draft in your hands. :)
In my experience the satisfaction of the results are far worth the hard work.
You're not at all crazy - I admit that I like to find any mistakes I may have made, get rid of redundant words etcetera, especially before there is a chance anyone else will find them! The whole process is interesting, and you really get to know your work after multiple edits. And I do advocate having time away from your book, as you come back to it, seeing things in a different, better light .
I'm so glad you found your inner love editing. It is always wonderful to see the results of your hard work. As an editor myself, I do find that it's therapeutic to change the way something reads in order to bring out the book's amazing qualities. I also love getting to know the author through their words on the page.
Having time away from your book between edits is a huge help. I don't allow myself to even look at the WIP until it's been a month since I finished the last draft. It's a tedious month, but absolutely worth it because the distance created during that month is invaluable when editing.
I've done some beta reading and I have to agree that getting to know another writer through their stories is absolutely a fascinating process.
I enjoy editing because it's fulfilling, but it's only fulfilling because it's challenging. Sometimes that's not fun, but overall it's a good thing for me :)
I think writers who enjoy, or at least respect editing are in a better position.
Good post!
Thanks! I have to agree that the challenge certainly is an aspect of editing that appeals to me--as you said, it isn't always enjoyable per say, but the satisfaction of having completed said challenge is more than worth the work.
Hello, stopping by to say Congrats on the blog awards. You can check them out here.
http://raebethmcgeeswriting.blogspot.com/2012/02/blog-awards.html
Thank you!! ^__^
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