This is a post about editing.
I don't remember exactly when I finished Mortality. I think it was around December. But as soon as I typed the last words, I wanted to jump straight into editing. I was so in love with what I saw that the book could be. So I did. I jumped right in. Wrote a single scene of prologue, and then stopped.
If I'm right, and it was December, I've been stopped for four months. I haven't done a thing. I've looked at it. I've re-read it many times. But I haven't done any editing. Until Sunday. I was talking on Skype with K.R. Green (pre-interview) and she kinda got me back to it. I've got two new scene's started. They're not finished yet, but they're started. And it's going pretty smooth.
My point is. Some writers go back and edit straight away. They can't let a book sit. I thought I couldn't. I had so many grand plans for the rewrite and I didn't want to forget a single one of them. I wanted it all done right now.
But, I think, when I went to go actually edit, I was afraid of making it worse. I know it's bad right now. Oh it's so bad. But you know what? It's a first draft. It's OKAY for it to be shit. The second one is probably going to be shit, too. But hopefully a smaller pile. Or perhaps a little less rank.
If you are new to the writing game, and have a first draft under your belt. Go ahead. Edit right away if you think that's the person you are. This was my first finished draft of any long piece of work. I thought I was that type. Don't be discouraged if it turns out you're not. Go ahead and set it aside for a few months. Maybe work on something else. But get back to it.
Don't let it sit aside indefinitely.
Great advice. Everyone has different editing styles, and it seems like you're settling into yours. It's great that you bring this up, since this is actually something we touched upon in our interview.
ReplyDeleteEvery writer has a different method, that method changes over time, and it's okay to experiment. Patience is a virtue and all that jazz.
Hope you get some sleep!
You can also blame that K. R. Green hasn't finished transcribing the interview yet too! But hopefully by the end of the week =)
ReplyDeleteI did the same with my first draft - desperate to make it better as quickly as possible. But I waited until January, then found that even that wasn't enough. So it stopped until April. And that's okay.
Sleep well!