On editing

I think I have mentioned several times already that part of my "writer" training is editing a "current" project of mine.

I have thought a lot about this recently... especially since I just finished a sporadic half hour of editing.

Editing the stories, making them the best that they can be has always been my weakest point. I used to be the kind of writer that fell in love with every little couplet of words and thought that change would simply ruin the entire piece. Besides, it took too much time.

While I still agree with the time aspect, I know now that if I want a product of my hands to be worthwhile I have to be willing to invest a little bit more of my time. I think that the pride that comes from looking at a good finished product is an excellent reward to time spent.

Also, though many seemingly harsh marks made by my history professor (of all people) I have learned to fall out of love with my words. I now take a step back and look at the story almost as if someone else wrote these words. I find that the critic's job is a lot easier when you don't constantly think about the fact that this is "your baby".

When I started the editing process on Children of the King I fully intended to read the story through, get a grasp of the overall story line and then return once more to the beginning and start making criticisms. I didn't make it. Currently I have numbered page 69 of 272 pages give or take some funky formatting at chapter breaks.

Right now I'm being easy on myself and simply pointing out the wrong stuff but not actually fixing it. We will see how much of a happy camper I am when I go back through the manscript a second time and force myself to change when I marked.