The Joys of Editing

I am sure there is someone out there who loves editing. I would like to meet them and learn their secret, because I do not particularly enjoy it. There are parts that are fun enough, but the rest is monotonous and, at times, can be a bit deflating. I pour my heart and soul into a piece, I am super proud of it, and then I read it. It just isn't quite what I had in my mind. There is nothing wrong with this, of course, even published works could be edited further but you have to stop somewhere. I don't mind works in progress, it is the feeling of moving backwards that I don't like.

When I get to the first edit stage of a book, I know that I am going to find things that need work. I also know that I am going to read something that made sense at the time I wrote it that now is about as clear as mud. When even I don't know what I was talking about, there is going to need to be some heavy rewriting. Some of the fun aspects of reading over my story--other than falling in love with certain parts and characters even more--is having a brilliant idea about what could make it better. My stories are like my soul's children, in a way. I always want them to be better and I want them to reach others. The frustrating part is that sometimes I read over one of those bits that doesn't work the way I wanted and I have no idea how to fix it. My husband has become a sounding board for different ideas. If he hears me call from the other room, "Which makes more sense?", "What would you do here?", "Do you think about X, Y, and Z?", "Is it too predictable?" one more time, he might move in with the woodland creatures. He is supportive and good about giving his opinion, but I know he doesn't care like I do. Not only that, but we think quite differently so sometimes his opinions are the opposite of helpful. Other times, he is brilliant and I will one day have to credit him as a co-author.

Once through the first edit stage, where all the glaring mistakes have been corrected and the plot makes sense again, I move onto the second edit stage (because I can count, miraculously). This is where I go through the rewrites and make sure that everything ties in the way that I want it to. I also start paying attention to word count here. I am an over-writer: I thrive in the details and the step by step journeys of characters. You want to know the exact decorations used in the prince's bedroom? I am your girl. You want to know how many steps it took to get to the other end of the continent? I can help with that. Readers don't always care and I have to go back through and trim out the parts that don't add to the plot and just make the piece long-winded. Nothing is worse than reading something and thinking to yourself, "Man, this author sure does like to hear themselves talk." But, every word that I put into each story meant something to me at the time and it is like removing a part of myself to take it out. Hence, why I sometimes find editing deflating.

Then, I go back, sit a captive audience down, and I read them the draft. There are multiple reasons for this: 1. Sometimes when I say something out loud, I realize that it doesn't come across the way I intended. Or, I realize that I don't know who said that. 2. I need feedback and I have already edited it twice; I have no more truly constructive feedback for myself. 3. In the end, the book needs to make sense and be interesting to the reader (or listener). Who really cares whether it is wonderful to me if no one else gets it? This would be stage 3.1. Stage 3.2 is more rewrites after I get feedback from the audience.

The concurrent stages are just repeats of the others. Then there is the eventual send off to a professional editor or a literary agent. While perhaps the most stressful, it is kind of liberating in a way. By this point, I have done everything that I can do on my own and get to hand the hard work off to someone else. There is the judgement and rejection to deal with, but that is just part of it. Not a fun part of it, but a part nonetheless.

I am in the depths of the second stage, preparing for stage 3.1. Good thoughts for my husband and parents (whom I will coerce into sitting for the reading), as I am sure they are going to need it. As for me...if I could stop trying to rewrite things in my sleep and the wee hours of the morning, that would be great. It is a painfully slow process and the rush of finishing the work in the first place wears off quickly. I find it difficult sometimes to stay motivated, but I am learning new ways to push on. To those who love editing: show me your ways.