"No passion in the world is equal to the passion to alter someone else's draft." - H.G. Wells
Perhaps an equally apt addendum to this quote would be "I would rather cut off my own finger than edit anything I ever wrote for another person's eyes." Now this colorful little addition... is not in any way an old saying (at least not to my knowledge) as evidenced by the fact that I made it up not more than two minutes ago. But ask any writer, and I'm sure he or she would gladly echo the same sentiment.
I certainly would.
I'm still in the thick of editing my second novel, and it is a hell - perhaps the level that Dante missed. Editing is an essential part of writing, of course, particularly when writing for an audience. In fact, by the time this very post goes up, I will have myself edited it at least half a dozen times. (I've edited it twice already.) It's very much a slash and burn process. In reality, nobody's first draft ever goes to publishing, regardless of the author. Why? Because writing is an arduous process. And laborious. It's writing and rewriting and phrasing and rephrasing. Cutting, tearing, breaking, shaking, gluing, reusing... Editing, as a process, is continuous destruction and construction: breaking down all the elements of your story and rebuilding them better, stronger, faster... (Bonus points to anyone who catches the reference.)
I've been writing for what seems like forever, mostly for myself and for my art. And so in writing my first novel I thought I was familiar with the deconstruction/reconstruction process that is editing. Boy, was I wrong.
See, editing is so much more than running spellcheck and avoiding dangling participles. It's checking for continuity errors with the plot, the timeline, and characters. It's examining scenes in and out of context, checking to see what works and what doesn't. It's ensuring emotions are consistent, characters are believable, and all in all that the reader actually grasps whatever story or message the author is so clumsily attempting to convey. And it's about finally finishing your ten chapter manuscript only to do a final read through and realize four chapters just don't work... oh wait, that's me! (Oh, the humanity!)
Editing is letting go and giving in and giving up and finally getting over it. You'll write and rewrite and attempt to salvage many an unsalvageable passage until finally the better part of common sense kicks in, and you just fling that phrase into the round file where it belongs.
But that's the process. It's a grueling experiment by far, but then most every story worth telling is. If writing is about putting an author's thoughts to paper, editing is about trying to capture those thoughts unknown even to the author. As you can expect, that part's not easy!
So embrace this process! It's unavoidable for any writer worth his weight in ink, electronic or otherwise. (And, P.S., don't forget to run spellcheck! Seriously!) ~Tet
Perhaps an equally apt addendum to this quote would be "I would rather cut off my own finger than edit anything I ever wrote for another person's eyes." Now this colorful little addition... is not in any way an old saying (at least not to my knowledge) as evidenced by the fact that I made it up not more than two minutes ago. But ask any writer, and I'm sure he or she would gladly echo the same sentiment.
I certainly would.
I'm still in the thick of editing my second novel, and it is a hell - perhaps the level that Dante missed. Editing is an essential part of writing, of course, particularly when writing for an audience. In fact, by the time this very post goes up, I will have myself edited it at least half a dozen times. (I've edited it twice already.) It's very much a slash and burn process. In reality, nobody's first draft ever goes to publishing, regardless of the author. Why? Because writing is an arduous process. And laborious. It's writing and rewriting and phrasing and rephrasing. Cutting, tearing, breaking, shaking, gluing, reusing... Editing, as a process, is continuous destruction and construction: breaking down all the elements of your story and rebuilding them better, stronger, faster... (Bonus points to anyone who catches the reference.)
 |
| We can rebuild him... |
I've been writing for what seems like forever, mostly for myself and for my art. And so in writing my first novel I thought I was familiar with the deconstruction/reconstruction process that is editing. Boy, was I wrong.
See, editing is so much more than running spellcheck and avoiding dangling participles. It's checking for continuity errors with the plot, the timeline, and characters. It's examining scenes in and out of context, checking to see what works and what doesn't. It's ensuring emotions are consistent, characters are believable, and all in all that the reader actually grasps whatever story or message the author is so clumsily attempting to convey. And it's about finally finishing your ten chapter manuscript only to do a final read through and realize four chapters just don't work... oh wait, that's me! (Oh, the humanity!)
Editing is letting go and giving in and giving up and finally getting over it. You'll write and rewrite and attempt to salvage many an unsalvageable passage until finally the better part of common sense kicks in, and you just fling that phrase into the round file where it belongs.
 |
| Now also housing broken dreams, college diplomas, and that raise your boss promised three months ago... |
But that's the process. It's a grueling experiment by far, but then most every story worth telling is. If writing is about putting an author's thoughts to paper, editing is about trying to capture those thoughts unknown even to the author. As you can expect, that part's not easy!
So embrace this process! It's unavoidable for any writer worth his weight in ink, electronic or otherwise. (And, P.S., don't forget to run spellcheck! Seriously!) ~Tet
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