Friday 1 April 2011

All About Editing - Brooklyn Ann

Do you love editing, or hate it, or somewhere in the middle?

I'd say somewhere in the middle. When I've received specific feedback on a project, I'm usually full of awesome ideas and excited, but some days, I got nothing. Theres one chapter I've been agonizing about for months. I know it sucks but I don't know how to fix it.


Do you edit as you go? Or do you start only after the first draft?
I will cheat and edit a teeny bit as I go, but I do most editing after I finish the first draft...and the 2nd, and the 3rd.

Do you have a definite method for editing? If so, would you like to share something from it?
I follow Stephen King's method. I write the 1st draft as quick as I can, put it away for a month and then edit it. Then I send it to my critique buddies and edit again from their feedback. Then I send it to more critique buddies and edit again until I'm satisfied.

Any tips you've learned from your experience?
You need a method. Whether you edit as you go or do what I do, you need something. If you don't, you'll be intimidated and unproductive.

Anything else you would like to add - pet peeves, things that make you want to pull your hair out (editing related), joys and wonders of the process?
I HATE typos. I'm a spelling and grammar nazi, so I find technical errors to be extra humiliating. I also hate when there's something wrong with a scene and I can't figure it out. What I love is when I write an new scene that fits into the story like a missing puzzle piece and when a disorganized jumble turns into a beautiful coherent story.

BIO: I'm a paranormal romance author represented by Tribe literary agency. I also write a weekly blog on writing for FROM A WRITER'S POV magazine and my own paranormal romance blog: SUPERNATURAL SMUT http://brooklynann.blogspot.com

7 comments:

  1. ...and after my rant about typos I found 2 in my post. Grrrrr!!!! On with the self-flagellation. :)

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  2. LOL :-) Thanks for doing this Brooklyn. Great tips.

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  3. LOL - Nice on the typos. ;-)

    "You need a method." I agree 100% - sucks to try to edit anything with no idea of *how* you're going to do it...

    Great post! :-)

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  4. Hallo,
    I definitely admire that you can be so methodical with your editing, and it's true that without a method it's easy to get lost. I have a question. When you send your story/chapter/novel to your critique buddies, what do they focus on mostly? The writing style or the story? Or both?
    I'm with you on typos... If only I could see them BEFORE posting!
    Thanks!

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  5. Hallo/Hello... I don't believe it. LOL

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  6. Hello. I try to have crit partners that focus on both but I notice that one will be better at catching some issues than others.
    For example. Crit partner A.) will catch all the typos in a boring expository scene but Crit partner B.) won't bother with it and will just ask where the story wandered off to. :) That's why it's best to have more than one.

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