Image via WikipediaMonday was a long day at work and it was followed by ballroom dance class with my lovely wife, so nothing done on the edit yesterday.Today, I was again at work longer than usual, but after dealing with my 73 emails, I managed to get another chapter done tonight. So, page 139 awaits my attention. Mind you, tomorrow night is my writing group night, and I don't intend to miss that opportunity for inspiration, so it might be Thursday before I continue.
Now, if some publisher would just spot my talent and come along with an offer of an advance, I might be able to leave the day job and get on with the real work. Any chance, do you suppose?
4 comments:
You seem to be able to edit very fast. I take it you edit once you have finished the whole manuscript?
I've been writing a chapter, then editing it before doing the next one, then repeating.
Hi. Yes, I edit ONLY when the story's complete. If I try to edit either 'on the hoof' or chapter by chapter, it prevents me moving the story along. Because editing and creating require different skills and use different parts of the brain, I try to separate them. It works for me, but other writers use different methods of polishing their work. There's one very important aspect to editing 'on the hoof' that you may not be aware of; it can actually prevent you ever finishing a piece, because you're forever searching for the perfect sentence, paragraph, or whatever and you can get stuck on that one part and never achieve the perfection you desire. The result is that you never finish the book.
Thank you very much for the advice. It is taking a lot longer to finish a chapter because I'm always trying to get everything to sound just right. I think I will take your advice and try leaving the editing for now.
Once again, thank you very much.
It's the perfectionist in all good writers. And it can get in the way of actually writing the story, so I think you're wise to tell the tale first and then tackle the editing. Many potential works of brilliance have died in the creating because the artist has been too obsessed with getting it right first time round.
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