The Editing Bug
Today I wanted to go over a little bit about the editing. Every writer has to do it. Some have a horrible time at editing while others can’t wait for the process. There are those who edit as they go and there are others like me who just want to get the words on the page then worry about fixing the uglies.
There was a time when I edited as I wrote but I found that I never got done with a story if I worried about what I put down on the page with every click of my fingers. A bestselling author recently told me that her NYC editor dumped sixty percent of a manuscript and I was horrified. I mean, I do clean it up before I send it to the editor. Deleting that much from one of my stories would scare me. I guess I scare easily. LOL!
Today’s quote is from a man I admire greatly. He was always talking about the editing process during his long career. He also encouraged writers whenever he could. I know I enjoyed many of his books growing up and still do. I always love his take on geology. LOL!
Here’s this week’s quote:
I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter. ~James Michener
Have fun being a rewriter every day as each of us need to be excellent in this field.
Until tomorrow...
Lynn
If I were a writer I'd probably have to wait a little bit before I could edit. Wouldn't it be a little easier to let it sit a bit ?
ReplyDeleteCarol L.
Lucky4750@aol.com
Carol,
ReplyDeleteOne of my best tricks is to wait a week before I even look at what I've written.
Most of the time it works well for me and I find lots of things I didn't know existed prior to sending the work to my publisher.
It also helps to have a second set of eyes look at things. It's one of the main reasons I have a crit group look at it as well.
Thanks for stopping by!
Lynn