That was a misleading title. I hate editing. It takes forever and it’s tedious and when you have to cut chunks of text it’s soul-crushing. That being said, it’s necessary, and it’s currently the next step I have to take if I ever want to publish Chasing Nonconformity. Thus, I edit!
I’ve been putting it off for several months now, and sometime last week I just got tired of seeing the manuscript sitting on my bedside table. I think my sudden burst of excitement for editing has come about partially because I’ve been playing around with formatting the interior for Imminent Danger. As you may or may not know, I intend to re-publish Imminent Danger in the near future via Amazon KDP (and Createspace), so I’m starting to look into exactly how I’ll go about doing that.
The key to editing for me, I think, is that I just need to get into the writing mood. It doesn’t matter how I get there, but once I’m in, I can force myself to direct my energy toward whichever project needs attention — in this case, Chasing Nonconformity.
As of today, I have finished addressing my editor’s notes on the latest draft. I am now preparing myself to go through the manuscript again, with the intent of ironing out inconsistencies and attempting to cut the manuscript down to size. It’s currently sitting at around 115k words, which is much too long. As you may remember, however, Imminent Danger was once at 120k words, and I got it down to 94k, so I’m cautiously hopefully I can repeat that feat here.
If anyone has any words of wisdom or encouragement for me as I delve back into editing my magnum opus (ha!), please share them with me in the comments below.
Unrelated media of the day:
Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/sKolg05
Michelle Proulx - Author 
LOLOLOL 😀
I’m not sure which part you’re LOLing at, but I approve!!!
Man, I love editing! It’s the first draft that I have to force.
If only we could trade enthusiasms…
(and my book is insulted that you think it’s obese. 😉 )
It’s not obese, just well-covered ❤
I like big books, and I cannot lie. 🙂
There’s a controversial brain-swapping procedure they’re developing in China that might work …
Collaboration. Find an author who enjoys different sections of the process and write a book together.
Collaboration. Like a brain swap without the risk of Michael Bay adding explosions.
Dwarf and elf romance? I really need to get my butt and gear and see that movie. Good luck with the editing. Need a chainsaw or a scalpel?
I could use a machete, if you’ve got one on hand. And yes, catch up on the Hobbit! The third and final one comes out this December, so you’ve still got some time yet. But the dwarf/elf romance is something you really need to experience for yourself to truly understand.
I have a two-handed broadsword. I plan on dvring the second movie when I have a chance. A friend said no rush since it felt more like a bridge than it’s own movie.
Yeah that’s a fair assessment. I’d say as long as you watch it before the third one comes out, you’re good to go. A broadsword would work! Although I’ll be honest, I forget why I’m borrowing a bladed weapon. Something to do with wholesale slaughter …?
I’m not sure what the weapon was about either. Swords were mentioned and that’s all that’s important to me.
Hopefully I can see the last movie in theaters. Hard to get a babysitter, so we’ll see what happens.
To me, editing is integral with the whole writing process – part of the journey from blank page to finished book.
Oh, absolutely editing is integral. I just find it extremely tedious. But you know, I do like certain parts of it — that rush you get when you change a section and know it’s way better now than when you started, for example.
I feel your pain with the editing. Thank goodness you added that unrelated media conversation to help turn that frown upside down.
That’s what it’s there for 🙂
The only way to really get the bits you don’t like done is to do them. Sit down, open the manuscript and start work.
Remember: moods are a thing for cattle, love play, and Connery quotes.
I agree with you in principle, in but in practice it is much more difficult to corral my brain and motivation when the internet offers so many more interesting ways to waste time 🙂
Buy a goat.
Because really, what problem can a goat not solve?
Now buy two chickens.
I feel like this is turning into a math word problem.
Now sell the goat and the chickens.
Your home will seem free of distractions.
I’m with Kate: the first draft is a royal pain, as I have to make hard decisions (like, who lives and who dies), painfully aware of the many threads unfolding before my very eyes, and aching to pursue them all. I’m like a kid in a candy store, each bonbon a tale, and me wanting to taste them all.
Once that is down, I love editing, as it’s much simpler!
See, the way I usually write is that the first draft ends up changing so dramatically during the first edit that my first edit is really just me re-writing the first draft. Which makes it sort of like writing the first draft all over again, which makes it super stressful. That being said, once I get the story into roughly the shape it’s supposed to be, the editing becomes much, much more enjoyable 🙂
I’m re-editing and formatting Puppet Parade as well, and one thing I did is search for excessive use of certain words. For example, I tend to use “look” and “seem” a lot, so I’ve been chopping that out where I can. I dunno if that would help you, but I feel it’s a good tip. 🙂
Also, am I the only one who enjoyed the romance subplot in the Desolation of Smaug? >.> I read the book, and I know it’s nonexistent there, but I still thought it was nice.
Well, I think the dwarf (Fili?) is super hot, so I was okay with the love triangle, mainly because it gave him more screen time, lol. It was definitely entertaining, although I’m not sure how realistic it was? I get the feeling elves and dwarves don’t really have romances in Tolkien’s version of the story.
As for editing … one of my big ones is “that”. I put it everywhere. “I think that we should …” can just be “I think we should …” I deleted a few hundred of those!
Congratulations!! I’m finding editing to be my insurmountable Herculean task, urgh. I need to get some of that creative drive, to shoot into editing like a laser-beam! Sounds like it’s working for you. 🙂 I hope your life gets settled again soon–I miss your posts! (For that matter, I hope MINE settles down–I miss my own posts, lol.) You should also post something about your new home. ^^ Pics, or it didn’t happen!! (Plus, new area, new places to have book events/signings!!!)
Well, of course the flipside of my laser focus on editing is that the rest of my life is falling to the wayside, lol. So I’m not sure it’s as good a thing as I’m making it out to be!!! I’ll try to do a vlog soon walking you around my new digs — the house is pretty nice, so I’ll just wait for a sunny day so you can see it in all its red brick glory.
Good luck – I can’t stand anything that has to do with editing. I wish I could just write it flawlessly the first time and be done with it.
Ahh, that would be nice, wouldn’t it? You could always do like some self-pubbed authors — write the draft, run spell check, and publish. Wait, don’t do that!
My OCD wouldn’t let me. In fact, my OCD is probably why I hate editing so much.