MEShammas

(I know I ask for more help than I give, but I am just starting, and don't trust myself very much to give advice. However, I promise I'll pay it back later . Thanks to all of you who've helped me so much already!)

Ok guys, I would like to edit the first 30,000 words in my novel. So far, the way I've edited is by just reading and reading the whole thing over and over again, crossing out repetitive phrases and checking for parallelism errors and misplaced modifiers and the such. However, I also would like to find errors that are less mechanical and more abstract, such as words that make the novel strong, etc.

However, some passages in my novel were written in a rush--and those passages, as I now know...well, they are not terrible, but mediocre, and I strive to be above mediocre (even if I fail).

Anyway, I would like someone to show me (or point out a source) the steps for effectively EDITING (not rewriting complete passages, though if the editing includes rewriting that is good) a segment (or whole) of a novel.

Thanks to everyone who may reply. You might just help me get published!

I (really and truly) value your help, both positive and negative, more than I value some of my closest friends advice. Most of you seem to be very educated and informed on how to write effectively. Anyway, thanks again.

sdavis2k

I find having other read it works best. Sometimes friends and family close to me, other times just posting it online and asking people what they think. It gives me more than just my opinion of the story before I submit it to someone else. I have found that this causes some contradiction. Some people want you to add more in a section while others want you to trim it down in the same section. Best to do what you think is right for your story in the end.

HarryG

I don’t even know if I should reply, I’m not on your favourites list. But, I’m a nice guy, so I will.

You are too bothered about revision, only a third of the way through. Do some revision, by all means, but don’t let it stop the flow. In fact, I would suggest only minimal corrections at this stage, it will only distract you.

Get it written, get the end right, let it flow, if you have an off-day, don’t write anything,

When it’s done, put it away for a bit, put a different hat on, and start revising. Be a reader, rather than a writer, hurt yourself, get rid of the lecturing crap, get rid of the clichés, get rid of any dialogue that doesn’t take your story forward, and if you don’t have to do any of that, pat yourself on the back, you’ve written something worthwhile.

MEShammas

Nice thanks Harry. How do you usually go about editing once your done? Do you look at each sentence and rework it if its bad or do you look at the chapter and if it is not good, then do you rewrite it?

Thanks!

Writer Kitten

Considering my current editing work -- on my own work, I don't mean an actual job -- I tend to do it this way:

Take one scene.
Copy it into a separate file, close the main file.
Be prepared to switch font often.
Let your inner sarcasm and hatefulness run wild.

1) That makes it a lot more fun and less tedious, because you're poking fun at yourself.
2) It can make for some amusing reading when you're really depressed about how long this editing thing is taking.

However, I agree with HarryG, get the story written first. Worry about the rest later. Writing the complete story is half the battle anyway.

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HarryG

I must stress that this is purely my personal way, and I’m sure we all do it differently.

Having put it away for a bit, I read it all the way through, making many corrections along the way, although not major revisions, like changing whole chapters to edit characters attributes, or altering main story lines.

I then read it again, in a quiet, undisturbed place, and I read it out aloud, slowly. At this stage I usually pick up the major fuck-ups, the ones that sound wrong and need a re-write. This is the most dangerous time, because if a main theme doesn’t sound (read) right, a major overhaul is needed, and at this stage the whole project may be scrapped.

If still on course, I repeat the process, this time knocking out the unnecessary bits, the self-indulgent comments, quite hard to do at times.

Finally, I get my second opinion from someone sensible, a reader or writer, and repeat the process if needed.

(On the last two occasions, I’ve spent £10 or so, to have the whole thing printed out in book form by Lulu, and asked for more comment from critics more comfortable reading the book, rather than a mass of loose pages).

If I still have a green light after that, I start on the submission process to agents, following the latest guidelines; they have changed quite a bit recently, they’ve gotten more ruthless, in my view, and I can see social networking playing its part in the future (now).

lin

I don' think there's a lot of science to rewrite. You pretty much just read what you've written and change it so it reads better. Leaving it sit for awhile seems to help this process.

I think you've gotten intimidated by the task and are looking for an angle on it. I don't think you're going to find any tricks and I think you are up to the task. After all, you wrote it.

If you are getting bogged down, leave it sit. Try not to even think about it...see what starts creeping into your head about it.

Start something else. Go back in a few weeks and see what you think.

I like to get to the point where I can print out big sections to carry around with me and read at the beach or coffee shops or on the bus or wherever.

I have black, red and blue pens, so I can go through the same printout three times before I have to print it out again. That usually does the trick, anyway.

In the past I have found that the best way to spot errors and stupidities in my writing is to get it published, then read it after it's too late.

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surrealist

This is good advice. Whenever working on collections of short stories, I would print out the entire manuscript and go about marking it up with a pen whenever I had time to spare. I type on the computer, but a paper copy is very helpful for in depth editing, and reading for flow and typos. I find this stage works best when a piece is very nearly finished.

Taxiday

My biggest problem was writing too passively. (There it goes!!! Writing too passively is my biggest problem.)- and, that can be improved.
Too much "to be" words!
So, thank goodness for Search and Replace! I did a search for "was" and evertime I got one, I made it bold. The same went for "would", "were", and so on. I could then go to each sentence to see if there was a - oops! T determine how to rewrite it less passively.
I also construct sentences poorly. As they gathered for the evening meal, Paul and Joan used the bathroom. Paul and Joan used the bathroom to prepare for the evening meal.

I hope you get the drift.
But, I didn't do any of that UNTIL the novel was finished!!!!

valeca

I'm in the 'don't edit too much at this point' camp. Get the rest of the story out first.

But if you're the type that does better with editing as you go, then here's one of the ways I approach editing. And I warn you, it's a very tedious process...

1st edit - obvious mistakes, glaring typos, grammar, etc.
2nd edit - sentence structure and flow
3rd edit - cutting redundancies and unnecessary info, adding what's needed
4th edit - repeating edit 2 & 3 until I'm satisfied
5th edit - final read and correction of anything I've missed

I don't always use that 'formula', but it does give me a place to start, especially with larger projects that can be overwhelming when deciding where to start.

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"...make your own nature, not the advice of others, your guide in life." --Pythia, Oracle of Apollo at Delphi

I'm here.

MEShammas

Great, I've written it down. Thanks to youj and everyone else!

Talia_Brie

Ha!

On other, unrelated issues, I'm also in the 'edit at the end' camp, mostly because I want to be close to the new boss.

That's not entirely true - well, the first part is. The second part isn't.

I've found that editing too soon really does upset the flow of the story for me, and the process has killed more books than it's saved.

If I can suggest, read On Writing by Stephen King. He spends some time talking about his writing to editing processes, and I found that very helpful.

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surrealist

Goodness, that's true. There's a story I placed with a an awkward sentence structure in the very first paragraph. For some reason, it was accepted, and published, but whenever I look at it, I can't help but smile, as it's something I'd never dream of writing today.