I am deep in editing. This particular round involves me reading the book on my Kindle and making notes in a big 5-subject notebook. Once I get a page of notes or so, I enter them into the manuscript. (As opposed to the round when I waited until I was done with the whole book to enter the notes.) :shrug: It's my process.
I use a 5-subject notebook because it's thick enough to be stable on the arm of my recliner. And college-ruled, so I can fit as much on one page as possible. But I only write on one side of the page.
The other day, a writer friend of mine expressed that my way of doing this would drive her nuts. And that's okay. Everyone has their own process. And the process might not necessarily be set in stone. As I've said before, I'm big on letting people do what they do. I'm just talking about what works for me.
So, here I am, reading my own book, looking for anything that makes me stumble as a reader - typos, wrong-words, crutch words - as well as taking note of anything that makes me wonder 'WTF?' Like inconsistencies in the world or the writing or what have you. There's a whole place where a character's pent-up anger bites him in the ass and afterward they're all wondering whether the same thing is going to happen to any of them, but I hadn't delved into the MC's considerable load of pent-up anger making him a prime candidate for this particular ass-biting event. So, I was all like WTF? and then I addressed it. Voila.
I think all of this work is making a better book. I hope. We'll see. Actually, it is making it a better book. The question is whether the 'better book than it was' is better than other books on the market. That's what we'll have to see about.
Anyway, I'm usually hitting this first thing in the morning, after my coffee and web-surfing. Then throughout the day. Then after dinner. Seeing as it takes me about an hour to make a page of notes and then another hour to enter those notes, I'm only 154 pages into what is now a 371 pages book. It's not a fast process by any means. It is what it is.
Now, back to your regularly scheduled and me back to work.
Everyone's process is so interesting--from the writing through the edits, proofing, formatting, etc. Even those with similar styles have their quirks that would drive another author batty. LOL My writing process is all but guaranteed to drive a plotter insance. Even a pantser has been known to give me the side-eye. Thing is, I sometimes plot, I definitely pants, and far to offten puzzle but somehow, all those sudden light-bulb puzzle pieces find the place they fit after a bit of plotting and pantsing. Editing though? I'm pretty straight forward. I read, I fix, I occasionally make notes to check on something that occurs later or has already occurred and the continuity might be missed up. I go check--eventually--fix it or not and then keep going. This might take two round, depending on the length of the book. And then there's beta readers and proofreading and fixing and formatting and stuffs. Bottom line is, do what works for you! I love your style, your storytelling, and most of your characters. I'm still not sure about Zeke. LOL
ReplyDeleteHappy Editing! And Happy Valentine's Day to you and Hubs.