How Do You Edit Your Writing?

Going from Page to Published

For me, writing a novel isn’t just about putting pen to page, but making sure I’m putting down the write right words. I’m sure many of you have your own styles and what you consider the right correct way. For those of you who publish your writings, do you send your editors the first draft right away or do you self-edit? For those of you who self-edit, how often do you do it and what type of editing do you do?

I must self-edit before I can send my work to any editor or other prying eyes lest they think I’m completely incompetent. My writing tends to flow constantly when I get in the groove and any stopping to edit can end the creativity in an instant. In other words, I ride the wave until it breaks. I know I’m not alone. For all you self-editors like me, at what point do you go back and edit? Is it every sentence, paragraph, page, chapter, or couple of chapters? Believe it or not, it’s all of the above for me, well… most of the above and sometimes. Yes, confusing. I know.

I wouldn’t exactly say I’m a perfectionist, but I’m a perfectionist. You might be wondering how I can say I ride the creativity wave before I edit and then turn around and say I edit every sentence, paragraph, etc. Well, let me explain. While riding the creativity wave, scenes and plot points seem to be unfolding before my very eyes, which causes me to backstep earlier and insert proper setups. Inserting these setups leads to a quick edit of the paragraph so there’s at least some semblance of coherence. Not having lost the wave, I get back on it and continue. Other times, it’s really much simpler. The wave only lasts a few pages, a few paragraphs, or isn’t there at all. You won’t see big waves every day.

I’ll usually start my comprehensive edit every 10 chapters or so. This is where I’ll go back and look at everything from punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure, to overall flow. It’s the most painful part of the process for me. Are there any authors out there who love editing or self-editing? I hold a lot of respect for editors because it’s not an easy job.

Once I’m through with the self-edit, then it’s at least respectable enough for me to send it over to an editor, who’ll undoubtedly return it with enough red markings to call it an abstract painting. Then it’s time to go over the editor’s notes and fix the manuscript. I lied earlier, this is actually the most painful part of the process for me.

I only have a couple of more chapters to go before my last self-edit and then the rest of the novel is off to the editor. Wish me luck and happy writing/editing to everyone.