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When you are editing a story what order to you edit in? I've been thinking on this and have yet to find a way that fits me well enough to stick with it, so I thought I would post it here.
Do you edit for major plot elements first and then go to a line by line edit? The opposite? Both at the same time? Or do you have some entirely different way of breaking up your editing tasks.
Also, how many drafts do you usually go through before declaring a story "complete" enough to submit it?
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I'm a terrible editor . But I go through three or edits. One is for major plot problems (for short stories, I try to plot beforehand so as to remove most of those problems) and various inconsistencies. Two is for words I like too much (I have a list that's updated according to my fads), awkward repetitions, and ways to make the prose flow smoother and faster. Three is inline edit for grammar and spelling.
Posts: 1075 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
You don't edit for plot...you revise. You edit for grammar, spelling, and clunkiness.
And as much as it's supposed to be bad, I have an eye to edit every time I read the story, and when I writ eit in the first place. The trouble is, if I go through to many times I get too bored to see the errors and start skimming. I mean, even the most interesting story is only interesting so many times in a row.
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I'm having a hard time just finishing what I have right now, but, everytime I go to write more on any of the 3 that I have, I reread what's there and add to them or take out what I think is stupid and what doesn't belong.
posted
Urm... editing for me goes somewhat like this:
1) Block off a scene. (A scene is a chunk of story - how I decide a scene has ended varies, but it generally means I've shifted time, shifted place, or shifted character so the MC is talking to someone new. It doesn't really matter. The point here is to bite off a chunk of story I can chew.)
2) Skim the scene and establish its purpose. A scene ought to move either the main plot or a subplot forward or tell the reader something significant about the characters/setting. Preferably it will do more than one. If it does none of those things - or if it just repeat things I've established earlier - I draw a big X over the scene. It's toast.
3) Figure out whether the scene is in the right place. This has a lot to do with timing. I try not to run subplot or character-building scenes one right after the other, but at the same time I want to space the main plot out a bit. If the scene is in the wrong place, I move it. If there's nowhere to move it, then I make a list of essential information in the scene, X it, and move on.
4) I go through the scene paragraph by paragraph (in the case of dialogue, this is more like clumps of lines), and, bearing the essential purpose(s) of the scene in mind, I do a quickie evaluation. If the paragraph does not further the plot or subplots, does not estabish setting, and does not say anything new about the character, then it gets the big ol' X. If it does one of those things but in my opinion distracts from the scene's main purpose, I try and find somewhere else to put it. If I can't, it gets the X.
5) There are now big holes in the scenes, sometimes ones that need filling with new and better material. I write new material in the margins. I keep a notebook handy for when I run out of margin.
6) I go over whatever's left of the scene and do line edits.
7) I block out the next scene.
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The process isn't really as organized as I've laid it out here, but I will do all of these steps on every scene in the novel. Only the order changes much. And I always evaluate before I start line edits: it saves me editing stuff I'll only throw away.
I'm in the middle of a big edit right now and it's killer... but I expect this, the first edit I've done on the finished draft, to also be the last. That's how I like it. I don't want to go over this material again; I'll only get sick of it.
I will have one more chance, though, when I go back and type the changes in. There's usually some minor adjustments made then.
posted
I have yet to figure out how to edit without killing my story. I have only done successful edits a couple times, under OSC's very friendly guiding hands, and even with his suggestions I have killed a couple other stories. For me as a writer editing is my weakest area. OSC said that if editing is that difficult then I'm doing something wrong and my subconscious isn't letting me continue, but sometimes even minor changes I make totally flatten the tone of the story. So, I have to say a great big AAAAAARRRRGGGHHH about editing, but I have not given up yet. Someday I will figure out a process that works for me (although the best thing for me personally is to write a very strong first draft, thus making the edits needed only minor ones, but I haven't pulled that off often either).
Posts: 818 | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
I start writing with small edits here and there. Then I continue writing new paragraphs. By the end of a story, most of it is already fixed. Of course, it means that my writing is terribly slow. I never do more than three pages per sitting, usually it's just one page...
[This message has been edited by Blue_Rabbit (edited June 14, 2005).]
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I'm planning to attend the Richmond, VA James River Writer's seminar on June 23rd. This month it's all about revision and self-editing. I'll post any good tips here after I get back.
Posts: 579 | Registered: Mar 2004
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. But I go through three or edits.
