Thursday, September 17, 2009

on editing and editing and editing and editing, etc...

I'll be honest.  Editing is exhausting.  This is one of the main reasons that writer's block sets in for me...see when I edit, I have a hard time just picking up from where I left off.  I have to go back to the beginning.  Let me tell you that once the chapters add up, it takes a REALLY long time to get through the thing because I always find things that need to be fixed.  It gets to the point that I want to scream.  I'm sure I even have once or twice.  

But, as annoying as it is, it must be done.  Especially when I change major plot points and add characters.  Which I do.  A lot.  

I'm currently in the process of editing W.t.W.W.Y.N. for only the 3rd time (which isn't really that much considering), and I changed 2 major points.  So, now it's about extracting the roots of the old idea (which was okay but probably too far-fetched) and planting a new (hopefully better) idea.  But even the new idea creates a new set of problems.  (Wait...does she know this happened or not?  Would he really be motivated by this?  Should I just chop this character out of the story?)  

And, of course there's changing the name of a character.  I changed Kat's name Kate and Beau's name from Annie on my 4th or 5th draft of W.B.S.F., and that was obnoxious.  Even on my 7th edit, I'd find the stray Annie or Kate littering the story.  

I've discovered that one of the best ways to edit is to let someone else read the story and tell me everything that's wrong with it.  I must publicly thank Wendy Watson for doing that for me for the W.B.S.F.  Now I just need to find that person for W.t.W.W.Y.N.  


2 comments: