Friday, March 1, 2013

Editing, editing, editing!

I have about 160 pages left to edit for KM4. It's been going smoothly (when I sit down and do it that is). I suppose that's because each book was easier for me to write, so the later ones have a little less work. It still takes me a good chunk of time though. This is the first real edit that KM4, and the others, have had. When I was posting chapters to FictionPress, I simply read them over quickly and posted--typos be damned! It's kinda nice to revisit these stories 5+ years after writing them. It's my hope that I am improving them somewhat....

Anyway, I hope to carve out sixty pages this weekend, but we'll see. I'm starting to wonder if I'll be done with the edit this month or if it'll be April. I'm not going to rush it. Rushing leads to typos and little errors that I don't like reading about when people leave reviews. So, I'm going to try my best with this one. After KM4 is done, I might take a little break and work on something else. I've been doing a little hand editing of A SPIRIT KEEPER, the first book in my planned trilogy. Reading the characters makes me a little excited about starting to work on those books again. I still feel like it's too long, but I might continue to push forward with it. I mean, if an agent doesn't want it, I'll put it online. At least that way it'll be read and won't just sit on my computer.

However, even thought I feel like working on something new, I still need to go back to KM1 and do one more extensive edit. I totally rushed that book and it deserves a little more attention. It was the first novel I ever completed... I wrote the first half without a plan and then planned the second half (so I would finish it). While I think I smoothed out the plot, I know there's more work to be done. I might actually print that one out and work on it that way. Sometimes you miss a lot of stuff when you work on a screen.

Which brings me to something else: Curbing my need to change things based off feedback (often negative) that I receive. I think studying fiction and being in a workshop like setting helped me learn to sit on things for a few days to ponder (or fester) before taking action. If I didn't, I'd change everything just so that people would like my work. I can't please everyone. I know this as a writer, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to. In general, I love all forms of feedback (as long as they're constructive). I feel like I learn a lot from readers and other writers. I guess that's the important thing.

Oh, remember my writing goal? It's been two months... *sigh*


7 comments:

  1. Oh, please hurry!!:). I love this series so much!! One of the best series I have ever read and I have read a lot!!!! Thanks!!:)

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  2. :) I'm almost 100 pages to the end! I can't rush or I'll make mistakes. Thank you so much for reading and for leaving me a message :)

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  3. Not sure how helpful this would be for you but thought I'd send the link anyway:

    http://blog.lettersandlight.org/post/42589036186/sarra-cannon-the-6-self-publishing-tips-that-nabbed

    and nanowrimo has this thing called campnano that you might be interested in, it runs the month of April and July:

    http://www.campnanowrimo.org/sign_in

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  4. Hi Jammi!

    Thanks for the link. I found the first one very helpful... I'm actually going to check out her books too. I need something fast-paced for the gym, and it sounds like something I might enjoy. The campnano thing would probably be really good thing for me to use when I start writing again, which at this point will be after I finish up all my editing. I know I should write new stuff and the same time, but my brain is too focused on editing right now.

    Hey, have you been watching Supernatural? I feel like they're back on track again... or at least have purpose or a goal to meet. I like when they're working toward something--I feel like there were several episodes where they were just kinda floating around. :)

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  5. I actually haven't watched Supernatural this season. It felt like it was floundering and then they changed the day and I just stopped keeping up. I have heard good things though, apparently once their paternal grandfather showed up things got back on track so i might try and give this season another go.

    I had found a link on creating a revision schedule you miht like although it seems like you already have a bit of a groove for editing, its just finding time to do it. Not sure where it is now but i can send it your way once I find it again if you like.

    And I think if you finish editing one book you can start writing something but of writing takes you longer than editing maybe only write until a certain word count then switch back to editing? That way you're not editing a bunch of things one right after the other.

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  6. Yes, it was after their paternal grandfather showed up that things got back on track! They did have a little bit of a drive before that, but after that episode it really feels like they're returning to what worked for them earlier. It's programed to tape on my DVR, so even if they change the date again I'll tape it. That really helps for me, if not I'm sure I would forget.

    Normally, I write really fast. It took me only months to finish the first drafts of all the KM books and even The Spirit Keeper. Editing, however takes a lot longer. I suppose if I spent more time on the writing part (and put a little more thought in it), I could make things more equal, but... it works, I guess.

    Does that revision schedule tell you when to stop? :) That's another problem I have--every draft I find something new. I think I mentioned in my post that I started hand-editing The Spirit Keeper... the pages are covered in green! Nothing will ever be done, I think.

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  7. No it doesn't, lol, I think that's an urge that doesn't go away ever, lol. I know on blogs I've read by published authors that they can't read their own work without being tempted to fix things even though it's now published.

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