Editing

[rssllue]

Editing sometimes runs so smoothly for me, and other times is the bane of my existence for a time. The best thing for me is to just leave it alone for a couple of days or longer, and then come back to it afresh later on. It usually works for me.

[lizj97]

I definitely do not over edit. I do make sure that all grammar, punctuation, spelling etc. are edited correctly. But when it comes to story line I told the tale. Unless there is some gross fact I left out I do not mess with the finished product. You can second guess yourself and wind up with something that has nothing to do with your original intentions so I do not let it get to that point.

[pretzelsnow]

My advice is: Edit until you feel that the story is just right in your eyes!

[AWJO1991]

The best thing for me is to just leave it alone for a couple of days or longer, and then come back to it afresh later on. It usually works for me.

I think this is the best thing an author can do. I, personally, like to set the book down for a month or two.

When I'm going through the first draft, if I realize there's a contradiction, then I type in the word 'edit.' Then, when I'm ready for the hard core editing, I use Word's search tool, type in 'edit,' and I can easily find every place.

Sometimes, it helps to add the reasoning after the word 'edit.'

This has done wonders for me. Actually, the entire Search tool on Word is my best friend when editing.

[sarahpayne23]

I think you should find a professional editor who will listen to YOU and keep it YOUR story. The last think you want is for it to be completely changed so as not to resemble your original idea at all. I believe authors and editors should be in constant contact to ensure the story is exactly how the author wants it. I struggle with editing myself and recently started using Donatello Book Review. They are really helpful and worked with me to immensely improve my work without losing my vision for the story. I would highly recommend them to anyone in need of editing services. They are relatively inexpensive for professional editors and they provided feedback really quickly.

[moderntimes]

"the indie author"

As differentiated from the authors who are employed by the big fiction manufacturers?

No. Indie implies self publishing. Plenty of small budget authors (me for example) are contracted with a professional publisher for their books, and this works fine.

I managed to sell my 3 novels to a small "boutique" publisher, but sales are minimal thus far, so I'm in the same boat as a self publisher (indie) in that there's very little publicity or advertising for the books.

By the way, authors are never "employed" by "manufacturers" and this premise is quite incorrect. I know several top ranked authors who built themselves up slowly until they achieved a genuine professional status (making a living on your writing, the holy grail of most writers). No one can manufacture a novel. A novelist has to write it.

-- 05 Mar 2016, 17:54 --

We first need to consider the 3 basic types of an edit:
1. Copy edit. This is the most basic level, where typos are caught, misspellings, grammatical errors, other mechanical problems. This level of edit also catches continuity errors (someone drives a Buick and next chapter is driving a Lincoln), as well as legal problems, where the text must be vetted for possible faults (the people eat at a Denny's and get food poisoning).
2. Line edit. This is an edit which addresses small problems which are not exactly mechanical but are perhaps a bit stylistic, such as overuse of certain adjectives, repetitive phrasing, etc.

These 2 types of edit are usually performed in the same pass. Then the final edit:
3. General edit. This is a higher level assessment of the themes and modes of writing, with recommendations as to how to better express a certain situation or suggestions for improving dialogue or narrative.

Usually, the first 2 edits are performed by a pay-per-job outside person who does piecework but is reliable and honest in the review. The higher level edit is performed by a staff member of the publishing firm, a senior editor usually.

The general method is this: The book or story or article or whatever is submitted to the publisher via MS-Word with "Track Changes" turned on. The editor makes changes but they aren't permanent to the text but are instead shown in the margin, just like manuscript proofreading notes. The author receives the changes and can either accept them (by clicking "accept") or not, by marking "stet" or maybe inserting a new change similar to the recommended one but slightly different.

Let me strongly recommend that if you're serious about writing, you really need to get MS-Office with MS-Word. You can get the "student and home" version for about $85-$90 and you're set. And that you also become modestly proficient with the "Track Changes" feature. No, it's not mandatory - I once really liked WordPerfect instead of Mickeysoft Word because at the time it was lots better. But let's face it - MS-Word is the world standard. And even if you send your book to a paid service or self publish, having that document in the latest version of MS-Word is going to save you lots of headaches later. And of course, if you sell your stuff to a pro house, you'll have to submit in Word. That's just how it is.

And frankly, Word 2013 (the latest) is very easy to use, honest.

Documents can go back and forth 2 or 3 times before everyone's "happy". Now as someone who's had professionally published articles and novels (yes for real money) the editing staff are usually very much okay with the author's original text, unless of course there are actual mechanical errors (typos or grammar errors) or legal issues. A publisher will insist that these changes be made. And understand, of course, if the character is writing a note and misspells things or the character's dialogue is not Queen's English, that's okay.

And for stylistic changes (edit #3) I have found that about 3/4 of the time, the senior editor makes a very reasonable and good recommendation for a small stylistic alteration, and maybe 1/4 of the time, your original idea is what you really do want.

The publisher / editor will never force you to make changes other than those mechanical or legal. The style (General) edit is only a recommendation from them.

Now, for those who are not submitting to a pro publisher, and are either doing their own edit, or having a good friend read for catching errors, or maybe paying an outside firm for the edit, the process should be the same.

So I'd suggest that you first put your writing thru a Copy and Line edit first, only fixing the mechanical things, and maybe replacing a word here and there, but do not get involved in extensive stylistic revision at this time. Just the small stuff, because that HAS to be done.

Then, after the text is clean and neat with zero errors, go thru a General edit but be careful or you'll end up changing things back and forth from version 3 to version 4 and back again without really making any progress.

I would also recommend that you save multiple versions of your book or story between changes, such as "Skylark v02" and "Skylark v03" and so on, so you can later go back and retrieve something which you then decided you really didn't want to change. Storage on computers is cheap.

For those using a professional editing service, it would behoove you to check if the service uses the MS-Word Track Changes feature and decide whether you want to go that route. It's better, because you can see what changes have been made by the editor and they won't be lost in the shuffle. You can then accept or decline (stet) the recommended changes.

Next, stipulate what level of edit you want. This was noted by someone else above. If all you want is a Copy and Line edit, it will not only be less cost but the editor won't intrude on your style. But if you want a full edit including stylistic suggestions (a General edit) then you'll get that too.

I also recommend that you learn the 3 types of edit terminology, "Copy", "Line", and "General" because those are the terms used in the publishing and editing biz and it's best to speak to them using the commonly accepted terminology. Of course ensure that they agree on the definitions first. That makes sense, hey?

This post is about all the business-related things which are employed in an edit, not what you are editing. That's up to you. But you should become familiar with the accepted lingo.