To Edit or Not to Edit? Is There Really a Choice?

Mark Twain had a point. It is easy to sit down and write (or type) a group of letters that make words. It's much harder to make those letters and words cohesive and meaningful. Editing can seem like a nightmare to writers who have just finished their 400 page manuscript. The relief of finishing that massive project is shortly lived, because anyone experienced in writing on any level knows that work needs to be proofread and edited. Each writer has their own style of editing, as well as writing.  I think everyone needs to find their own process, much like they need to find their own voice. This is my basic process of editing. It's a little old school, but it works for me.

Me personally, I love to edit. I didn't always, but having written for a while now I understand it's necessity and embrace it. There is still a sense of accomplishment for me having completed the initial work, but depending on the scope of what I have written determines how many details I remember. For example, it may take me months to write a 400 page manuscript so the odds of me remembering every word or even sentences that I wrote in Chapter 1 and how they directly connect with words and sentences in Chapter 14 are slim to none. I need to re-read my own work to become familiar with it again. This is step one of my editing process: Reading. I only read the first time back through the work. No markups or corrections, unless I fall off the wagon and have to fix a GLARING grammatical error. However, I intentionally leave my desk and go sit in a comfy chair somewhere away from pens.

Next, I print out the work. I know it seems to wast paper, but I need the tactile feel of the paper in hand and the pen moving across the paper when I make corrections. I feel like it makes me focus more on the work. Once printed, I read through again from start to finish. Any GLARING errors I correct at that point and try to focus only on grammar and structure of the sentences.

Sometimes, at this point, I need to take a walk or play with my dogs or go shopping. Basically anything that has NOTHING to do with writing or editing. Distraction can be your best friend when you are writing or editing. Your brain still toils away at the plot or the edits in your work even if you are shopping or pretending you are Taylor Swift in concert while dancing around your house with a hairbrush microphone.


via GIPHY

The next level of editing becomes a bit harder and exceptionally tedious at times. It is necessary though. This is the round of editing where I check the story line. Usually my papers end up looking like an ax murder has been committed nearby from all the red ink I use to mark the corrections or changes. This takes an extraordinary amount of patience and time, but will be well worth it in the end. Especially when editing a work as massive as a 400 page manuscript, this takes a huge amount of time and a whole lot of energy. I also find it very cathartic to re-write and establish stronger characters, settings, wittier phrases, etc., etc. I have also been told I am weird and have excess energy, so I may just be weird and have too much time on my hands. Whatever the reason, I like to revisit my characters and story and improve them, make them really jump off the page at readers.

Checking the flow of an article or manuscript takes time and patience. I personally do not have a whole lot of either, but as mentioned on my recent blog entry about freewriting: sometimes you just have to do things, even if you don't want to. For me, this is one of the hardest parts of editing. If you have put in the time to write a 400 page manuscript, tearing apart your baby (the manuscript) can be gut wrenching. Much like childbirth, you have grown this wonderful being inside of you for months and now that it's complete and into the world, you have to put in the hard work. The first time I had to edit a work of this magnitude, I was stunned at how many changes I made and how long it took. It was like experiencing the 5 stages of grief:

1. Denial- "My work is perfectly fine. I proofed it as I worked on it. It shouldn't possibly need THAT much work..."
2. Anger- "I cannot even believe that I have to do this. Absolutely a waste of time because I know that I didn't make any grammatical errors. Huh, is that witch instead of which???"
3. Bargaining- "If only I had spent ore time on this section to begin with, then I wouldn't need to do this many rewrites." **Stage 2 can come back into play during this stage too. 
4. Depression- "I must be the worst writer who has ever lived to need this much editing." 
5. Acceptance- "Okay, so I need to made a lot of edits to make this readable, but it is totally worth it."

I had a few moments where Stage 4 was haunting me, but luckily my worst episode of happened when I was part of a group of writers and we all supported each other, so I wasn't alone in my misery. Which brings me to another piece of editing. Don't be afraid to ask for help. A fresh pair of eyes on your work could be just what you need to see the good and the bad clearly. Have a friend or a colleague read your work and see what they think. They may have suggestions that you never thought of or they could be a source of support. Either way, it's helpful to have extra eyes.

Lastly, you don't want to seem like you didn't care enough about your writing that you couldn't be bothered with proofreading or editing. It makes you look very unprofessional to assume that everything you have written is the absolute best it could possibly be. You are a writer and I'm sure the last thing you want someone to say after they have read you book is that they found distracting typos, misused words. or plot holes. Take your time and refine your work. It will make a difference to all those who read your work.