The Great Writing vs Editing Juggle

Happy Hump Day everyone!

I hope everyone in the US enjoyed their long weekend and Fourth of July celebrations. I decided not to post anything on Monday, since it was a holiday and we were spending too much time relaxing (also studying. Sigh). It was our first American Fourth of July and if that’s not exciting, I don’t know what is. We spent about $200 on fireworks and burnt ourselves firing them; we ate freedom cake and pecan pie; there was a slip’n’slide and Flip Cup (an American game that we were introduced to), and I got to cuddle a really cute puppy. It was a day that ticked all the boxes.

Now, down to business.

There is no denying that, at times (who am I kidding? Pretty much all the time), writing can be a tricky business. Finding time to write, forcing productivity, resisting the urge to go and finish those vitally important chores that just have to get done! and tear you away from your desk. If you don’t deal with any of those issues, then there are a host of others: ink running out, computers crashing, transcribing from paper to digital, what medium to use to record your thoughts, in-progress manuscript and timelines.

It’s a minefield, people. I get it. But what I want to talk to you today is editing.

Gasp. Shock. Horror! I hear you cry. Not editing! Do we have to talk about it? I understand, and I’m sorry (not really), but we do. Why? Editing is an absolutely crucial element of producing a finished work: whether that’s a novel, a novella, a short story, a poem, a blog post (the list goes on), editing is vital. Editing has reworded, reconfigured and finessed almost everything you see in print in the world. It’s inescapable. But don’t worry about it: that’s a good thing. It’s the incredible opportunity you’re given to go back, pick up your rough cut diamond and remake it into a perfect dazzler. Okay, okay, we’ve established that it’s absolutely necessary and completely unavoidable. So then, what’s the best way to go about editing?

The main delineations I can see in the editing process are self-editing (either as you go or at specific intervals), beta-reading and professional editing and we’ll go into each of them briefly. I’d like to start with your own editing process, purely because I see this as a serious pitfall for writers to get caught in. Of course, there are advantages (and disadvantages) to both methods of self-editing and though I’ve tried both, my personal preference seems to vary on a daily basis. To help you decide what is best for you, we’ll go through a pros and cons list in the following paragraphs.

Self-Editing – As you go

Is it a good plan to edit your beloved word child as you go along writing it? Personally, I tend to reserve this method for shorter pieces, say a short story of less than 5 000 words, for the following reasons:

Pros

• In a shorter work, it may allow you to finish something that you’re happy with more quickly (though you’re likely still going to have to do a second draft).

Cons

• You may find you lose the thread of your plot, brilliant one-liner or perfect character because you’re too busy trying to fiddle with every last element of your first sentence.
• You’re more likely to get disheartened by the challenges of achieving exactly what you want your work to read like which will probably make it harder to achieve your daily word count or planned completion timeline.
• The biggest con with this plan is also the stickiest one I’ve ever encountered as a writer… Getting so caught up in editing every sentence as you go, that you never write anything.

That’s a dangerous one. There’s a reason that a lot of people advocate for writing without editing, and we’re going to cover it now.

Self-Editing – At specific ‘review’ points

OR, should you have a definite point of review? It might be every chapter, every 10 000 words, every or when you’ve completed the first draft of your manuscript.

Pros

• You’re less liable to be distracted by concerns about editing until you reach your chosen marker and this gives you more freedom to churn the words out.
• It’s easier to divide your time up into blocks of writing and blocks of editing, which makes it easier to achieve your daily writing goals with uncontaminated writing time.
• It’s freeing! You can just motor on ahead and make mistakes and be crazy, and you don’t have to worry about the consequences! (Until later, of course.)

Cons

• You may find that if you wait until the end of your manuscript, it’s huge and unwieldily. You’re also liable to be tired by this point and disinclined to have to rewrite a 100 000 word book. [Hint: go and start writing something else instead. Editing can wait until you’ve had a break and feel refreshed enough to re-attack the creation of your novel.]

It’s important to accept that (if you’re one of the normal people) you’re going to have to slog through at least two – three drafts of your novel. There are a small group of writers this may not apply to, but most of us will need to redraft.

Beta Reading

Beta reading refers to distributing your work to people who are not explicitly proofreaders or editors, but can provide an informal opinion of your work. They typically highlight issues such as plot holes and problems with continuity, characterisation or believability and may also help with fact-checking and basic grammar, punctuation and spelling. A beta reader could be a good option to pursue after you’ve conducted your own editing of your novel, before you decide to pursue professional editing advice.

Professional Editing

And then, of course, sometimes you’re going to need some professional help. Help from someone who knows how to dive right on into your book so they can help you highlight all the best parts for a publisher to swoon over and rework the not-so-best bits so they don’t trip you up. A good editor is a font of knowledge designed to complement your writing and if you’re getting close to sending in your work – for magazine submissions, competition entries or through traditional publishing avenues – you’d do well to invest in a good editor to go through it and give you some advice. There are hordes of quality people in this industry whose know-how and industry nous you can capitalise on to make your writing the best it can possibly be.

As a great and pertinent example, Sione Aeschliman is a freelance editor and all-round amazing human being (she tweets at @writelearndream) and can be found on her website at http://sioneaeschliman.blogspot.com.

So, what are you waiting for?! Getting writing and get editing!

— Ana