I was curious about other's editing and polishing processes. Sometimes, I look at a piece, and I think to myself, "Good. That's done," and I move on. Others, I just can't stop fiddling with.
What's your process?
When do you edit. From the beginning, or after you're all done?
How many times do you throw it back into the miniture cement mixer before you dump it out, towel it off, and say, "There. That's enough?"
posted
It depends on the piece. With some things, as soon as I'm finished writing, it looks pretty darned good! But I know better than to trust this feeling, so I just set that piece aside and work on something else for a while so I can see that "good" one with fresh eyes. If it still looks good, I'll send it to some trusted readers to get their take on it, then polish again based on their input. With longer things (novels that are near the end), sometimes instead of picking up where I left off the day before (sometimes going back a few pages to get back in the flow of it), I might go back several chapters and just read them, editing/polishing as I go if I see something that needs to be changed, and then continue writing when I get back to the point where I left off before. In this way, my novels get polished a LOT before they ever leave my hands for my readers to check out. I have a team of five readers, each of whom brings a completely different set of skills to the task, and they each give me totally different responses to what I've written. I work my way back through it at least twice after getting their responses, then go through it probably at least twice more after that on my own. Then I get my toughest critic (one of my readers who's a journalist and copy editor) to read it again, and then I'll polish again. And after that, it's usually done.
I've tried various ways of writing, and this is what works for me. If I'm working on something short, or my readers aren't available for whatever reason, I put the piece aside for a while and then look at it later.
I can always find something to change in my work (whether it's writing or a sculpture), but I've learned that there's a time to "declare a victory and move on," or as artists say, you can "overwork the piece" and mess it up. So when it's as good as you can get it, put it away for a while, have others read it, then polish it again. "Rinse and repeat" until you're ALMOST getting sick of the story but still find it a good read, and that's probably a good time to declare a victory!
posted
I used to do "rough draft - final copy" and that was it...then for a couple of years just tried one draft...then went back to "rough draft - final copy"...then word processors and computers came in and significantly affected my ability to fiddle with what I've written. Of late I've used the "find" feature to track down adverbs ending in "ly" and then rewrite to get rid of them.
Now I usually print up something and then rewrite, word for word, from that---the rewrite this way forces me to reconsider every word and sentence and phrase. (Not invariably, though---sometimes I just polish and let it go.)
(Also another factor is time---these days, I rarely start on the next draft after finishing the earlier draft. I let it sit for months (or years) to see whether it's still of interest once my emotions have cooled down. If it passes, then I rewrite it.)
I try to write the first draft completely without going back to tinker with it. Once it's finished, I'll read it over. If I think it's strong enough, I post it and ask for readers. Usually, though, I feel it needs sharpening, so I'll print it out, reread, and make notes. Then I rewrite, usually from scratch, sometimes cutting and pasting. Then I send it out to readers (or repeat the process until I feel it's not ready for readers).
I'll read comments as they come in (just cause I'm so curious I can't help myself), but I won't actually work on the story for a week or longer. Then, when I feel ready, I print and reread, making notes. Then I go through crits and incorporate their comments onto my draft. Then I'll rewrite, or tinker, or whatever needs to be done.
Finally, it's ready for final copy. Sometimes I'll tinker with stuff for weeks. I think someone once said if you find yourself changing things back the way they were, you should stop. Also, I find myself fiddling with little things, a word here or there. That's when I figure it's time to move on.
Books, well, i haven't written and finished enough books to know my process! The mistake I made on my first WIP, I think, was to start tinkering with the editing process before the first draft was done. Big mistake. So my new rule, always write the first draft to completion, start to finish, before you tinker.
posted
I don't edit as I go. I write everything out until its finished. If I know there's problems, I might make a note of it. If I do something in the middle or end and need to mention it towards the beginning, I make a note and move on.
After the first draft, I have people read it and they can tell me what's wrong or what else they'd like to see. Then I do another draft. Then I read it myself and make notes on what needs to change and then do a final draft. After that, you simply need to be done. You can tweak a story for years. You can realize the story could go a dozen different ways and try to follow all of them. Or you can say THE END and start submitting. At some point you have to be done.
posted
Well, I normally do minor edits as I go because I go back and read the previous day's work to get back in the flow and polish that while I'm doing it. For larger changes, I will either make a note in my note folder or if it's a scene I want to add I may actually write it and put it in my snippet folder.
After the first draft is finished, I usually have some pretty major changes I want to make so I do an edit right away that is mainly adding scenes, perhaps adding characters and plot lines, and putting in all the stuff in my notes and snippets. By that time I have a somewhat finished work.
Then I go through using a macro to get rid of any over use of "was", "that", "then", any weak words such "very" and "something". Then I put it aside which is HARD. This was one of the things everyone said to do that I found the hardest to do. At least two weeks without looking at it AT ALL while I work on something else. Then I print it and read it making notes of what I want to change. After I make my changes, I send it to my readers.
When I get comments from my readers, I go through those. I have some good readers who are great at picking out plot weaknesses, etc. I make those changes. Then I set it aside for another week. Then I print it one more time and read it one more time just to be sure I haven't missed any dumb stuff and I always have.
At that point I put Heinlein's Rule into effect. I ONLY make additional changes if an editor asks for them.
posted
It's my opinion that if I look back on a story over and over, checking what I have just written, wrote yesturday, or last month editing before I finish the actual story, I stop writing it. I get bored and overwhelmed because I'm finding these mistakes before I'm even done
So, I think it's a good idea to finish the story, then you can feel free to polish it over as many times as you want. How can you expect it to come out right if you keep reaching in the mixure and mucking it all up before it's finished?
-Jay
[This message has been edited by jaycloomis (edited December 06, 2007).]
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