Avoid Mistakes When Editing Your Own Work – Part 2
In part 1,
we looked at some of the common mistakes writers make when they try to edit
their own work, simply because they don’t understand the processes that editing
entails. It’s important to point out that self-editing isn’t about being an
expert. Self-editing is about the kind of collective things to look out for
when reading and redrafting your work, so let’s look at some other common
errors.
Not Redrafting
This is the stage
most writers often skip over, without taking proper time out and without doing
a full read through of the manuscript. They write the first draft, edit as they
go, then do a second draft and hey presto, their perfect, brilliant novel is
ready for the masses.
Except it
isn’t.
Redrafting
is the next stage on from the read through, where all the notes from the read
through are translated to the manuscript. Redrafting shouldn’t be confused with
actual editing. They are two separate processes. The redraft allows the writer
to tweak the manuscript, correct some of those obvious mistakes and flaws and
tidy the grammar and punctuation etc., ready for the next read through.
There are
lots of read-throughs for a very good reason. And this is the stage writers
just don’t bother with. But it’s important if you want to learn how to edit
your work and understand more about your own writing, because the more you read
your work, the more aware you’ll become of those strong and weak areas.
When the
redraft is complete, leave it for a week or two, ready for the actual edit.
One Edit is Never Enough
Most
beginners assume that once they’ve edited their manuscript, then it’s completed
and ready to publish. But one edit is never enough. It’s delusional to think otherwise. Even the
best writers know one edit is never enough, because it’s not possible to spot
the more difficult or technical mistakes, much less every single common one.
Anything
less than three edits means the writer must be a genius. Just about every novel
will go through numerous edits before it’s even considered ready. And that
doesn’t account for edits carried out by professional editors or publishing
house editors
Generally
speaking, four or five edits is normal. Some writers like six edits. Others go
for more and there is a danger that the novel could be over-edited and
therefore spoiled, if the work extends beyond seven edits. That’s because the
writer has changed the fabric of the story too much. Be careful not to over-edit.
For those
who are not so confident with self-editing, a couple of edits is reasonable
before it goes to a professional editor to do the rest.
Don’t Rely on Spell-Check
All writers
should have a reasonable grasp of grammar and punctuation and a good
vocabulary, but almost every writer has come to rely on computer-based spell
checkers. But everyone’s ‘go to’ for checking spelling isn’t the most reliable,
and that’s because it isn’t human. It’s a program.
Try writing
its and it’s in a sentence, and Word will confuse itself. It has problems
recognising correct verb usage, it cannot distinguish between some verb variations,
it loves to capitalise come words when they don’t need it, and doesn’t correct
it when it does. The same is true for other spell checkers. They are not
reliable beyond simple spelling.
If you’re
unsure, look up words and meanings in a dictionary or consult a grammar guide.
Don’t Rush
This is
quite possibly the worst mistake every writer makes when trying to self-edit.
Everything must be completed at breakneck speed. They write the novel in weeks,
they do one edit in a matter of weeks, they don’t read through it properly, and
they rush it into the self-published world and wait for the money to pour in.
Except that
it doesn’t work like that. Money won’t pour in, because people won’t buy a 300
page pile of badly written garbage. Fact.
Why the
rush? There is no fire. All the resources are still there. They will always be
there. And your story will never benefit from being rushed. The
difference between crap stories and great stories is time. Time to write, time
to rest, time to read through, time to redraft and time to rewrite.
It’s very
simple: don’t rush.
It’s a Learning Process
No one is
born with the knowledge and expertise of editing. It’s a learned process. So
with each story we write, we look out for the punctuation and the grammar. We learn to spot those annoying adjectives
and adverbs. We learn to read it through to see if it makes sense and it has
decent pace. We learn to spot the mistakes in the formatting of sentences and
dialogue. We learn to notice if there is a lack of characterisation. We learn
about our writing style and voice.
We learn to
understand when things just don’t make sense, or there’s a whopping hole in the
plot. We learn to spot the weak areas. We learn that tweaking some sentences
makes them so much better. We learn to cut others. More importantly we learn to
understand our own writing.
Self-editing
is as much about self-improvement as it is about writing. You don’t have to be
an expert. You just need to know enough to spot the kind of errors that make
bad writing really bad, which gives self-publishing such a bad reputation.
Summary:
- Don’t edit as you go – it doesn’t work.
- Take time out – you’ll benefit from it.
- Do a read through – know your story.
- Not Redrafting is a common mistake. The story needs many drafts.
- One edit is never enough
- Don’t rely on spell checkers
- Don’t rush – Take your time.
- It’s a learning process – so learn.
Next week: How do you make a story allegorical?
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