Writing

One bite at a time!

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I don’t know if this is a phrase your familiar with but there’s a saying that says to eat an elephant you need to take one bite at a time! That’s so helpful as I think we can see our destination and want to get there. We’re at A and we want to get to Z. So we’re looking for the one step to get there. But first we need to get to B, then C and so on. Sometimes progress is slow and others we seem to skip through the steps.

Writing and editing a novel is a lot like this. As you write your first draft, you see the word count climb and you get more and more excited that you’re actually doing it! Then you get to the end and feel you have written the most perfect novel there ever was. Then you look at the start and realise you still have a lot of work to do. You make it through your eighty thousand words again and change things and polish it. Then you timidly put it into the hands of your editor, bracing yourself for the inevitable amount of work about to come back at you!

This isn’t just a principle for writing though. I think it can be applied to every area of life. Starting a new job, you want to be good at it right away but instead you make mistakes, have to ask again what you’re meant to do or find yourself crying in the toilets as you battle self doubt!

A major area I’ve faced this, is in parenting. I know what I want my kids to grow up like, but when they were two, three, and even four that really seemed impossible! They’re still not fully grown but I have two teenagers who I think are amazing! It’s gone so fast.

At the moment though I’m editing ‘Reflections’ again! I’ve lost count of how many versions I’ve gone through now. I’m realising patience is a virtue in writing as in everything else. I’ve also learnt that I get as defensive about my writing as I used to be about my parenting! For more about my struggles with editing read my blog on it here.

So whatever ‘elephant’ you’re facing, don’t be intimidated, what’s your next bite?

Editing (my least favourite part of writing!)

/ racheltheunissenwriter / 1 Comment

It’s been a busy week this week and as I’m self isolating after a trip to London I’ve had some time to catch up on editing.

My editor Justine, has done an incredible job editing ‘Reflections’ and she sent it all back to me shining with it’s comments and trackable changes to approve. It’s quite easy to go through her notes as she is almost always right! It’s so helpful that she gets what I’m trying to create and I’m glad that it made her cry!

But now I turn to editing my first novel that has been tucked away while I finished Reflections. I don’t know how you feel about editing, but my writing partner and I have different feelings about it! Sophie is the sensible one who really enjoys working on edits and improving and polishing, whereas I get so bored! I love the new novel stage, the getting the words down, creating the characters, making them do whatever I want them to! But editing, urgh! So dull!

When you finish a first draft, you feel it’s perfect! You want to tell the world you’ve done it. You stroke the printed pages and smile to yourself smugly that you persevered and have created this novel!

Then you tuck it away for a week or so, basking in the glow of your success. Then you go back to the first page! The disappointment is real! With this first novel, I’ve already gone through it a few times, so the thought of starting all over again is a bit like going back to school! Unfortunately the editing needs to begin with a full re-write of the first page!

My top tips for editing:

  1. Remember that everyone has to do it.
  2. Take breaks when it feels too much. Get out for some fresh air if possible.
  3. Find out what works best for you. Do you need to have it on paper and write notes or do you work better with a screen?
  4. Watch some YouTube videos on editing (not too many, don’t want to procrastinate!).
  5. Ask a friend you trust to be a Beta reader when you feel ready, then when you get their feedback don’t respond straight away! (See my blog post on Critique!)
  6. Set acheiveable goals. Decide you will edit for a certain amount of time and then have a break. Use the Nanowrimo website to set the goals and then you get a lovely goal tracker to keep an eye on how you’re doing. Reward yourself when you acheive them. Pre-Covid Sophie and I would reward ourselves with a Latte at Starbucks when we got somewhere!
  7. Finally, give it to an editor. They are the best. You may not like them initially! But they will pick up on things that you don’t see. Like character arcs, holes in the plot and problems with tense or point of view.

The best thing, I’ve found, is to keep going. If I get particularly frustrated or bored then I go for a walk or pick up a book and read something completely different. Escape, when you get back it’s usually not as bad as you thought!

I’d love to hear your editing tips or stories! I’m sure I’m not the only one who hates editing!