Editing

[peteOcha]

Done! Phew! Kind of sad to see these characters go, but I have been working all summer on both of these books (Grave Revelations & These Trespasses). They should go to the printer by this weekend. The tale picks up in book three with my main characters son...but I am taking a break before I get too far into that or one of the others I am have been working on. I need me a bottle of wine.

Good job! Enjoy that wine, you deserve it!

[ozmosis7]

Done! Phew! Kind of sad to see these characters go, but I have been working all summer on both of these books (Grave Revelations & These Trespasses). They should go to the printer by this weekend. The tale picks up in book three with my main characters son...but I am taking a break before I get too far into that or one of the others I am have been working on. I need me a bottle of wine.

[ozmosis7]

Thanks Draven.

[Draven Ames]

Congratulations on those sleek covers. I really like Ultimate Angels' cover.

[ozmosis7]

Thanks, Caren. It does feel good. I put a lot of effort into this sequel, so hopefully it pays off. I have a revised manuscript to work out yet for These Trespasses, and I am awaiting an internal B/W, but it feels very good to be on the home stretch. I'll post something when I can for you all to see. I think you will really enjoy the new artwork.

[C.W. LaSart]

Congrats! Must feel great!

[ozmosis7]

Thanks!

[mercuryval]

I am totally psyched how things have been progressing.

Awesome, congrats!!

[Ben Staad]

Congrats Oz!

[ozmosis7]

Finally finished with my edits on Grave Revelations, the sequel to my first book. Also, received the new artwork for both books, and it is incredible. I have a short break before I start edits on the original book, and then I can share. I am totally psyched how things have been progressing.

[mercuryval]

I definitely edit as I go. When I start my writing for the night, I'll go back to the day before and go over that with a comb. I wish I had the ability to just blaze through the first draft without a second thought, but my brain won't allow me to do that. I like being able to go back through the manuscript at any time and be satisfied with what I'm producing, without a bunch of mistakes and whatnot that I'll just clean up later. IDK, that's how I work, anyway.

I do this as well... but I find the more time I allow to pass before I do a complete second read-through of the finished product, the better I'm able to edit. I'm currently editing something I wrote back in November. While the structure is all there, I'm catching lots of wordiness that's not really pulling its weight, and I'm adding more elements like figurative language to better convey the mood that was in my head when I wrote it. When I read through it back in November, I thought it was pure gold!

[Ben Staad]

I definitely edit as I go. When I start my writing for the night, I'll go back to the day before and go over that with a comb. I wish I had the ability to just blaze through the first draft without a second thought, but my brain won't allow me to do that. I like being able to go back through the manuscript at any time and be satisfied with what I'm producing, without a bunch of mistakes and whatnot that I'll just clean up later. IDK, that's how I work, anyway.

This is pretty much what I do as well. When I do this it also helps me reconnect with the flow of the story so picking up where I left off is always so much easier.

[jmcraven]

My inclination is to edit as I go, but the reults are better, and I am more likely to finish the story, if I complete the rough draft and then revise. It's also good to know the ending when revising the beginning, and sometimes the planned ending gets altered as I'm working.

[WesleySouthard]

I definitely edit as I go. When I start my writing for the night, I'll go back to the day before and go over that with a comb. I wish I had the ability to just blaze through the first draft without a second thought, but my brain won't allow me to do that. I like being able to go back through the manuscript at any time and be satisfied with what I'm producing, without a bunch of mistakes and whatnot that I'll just clean up later. IDK, that's how I work, anyway.

[Craig Wallwork]

I sit in a strange place when it comes to editing. The blaze of glory approach and the re-writes as you go, well, I'm somewhere in-between. I try to write as much as I can, but I tend to go back at the end and edit a few lines, flower it up, pull something great out of a bland sentence. In truth, it depends on my mood, too. I may just write it down very quickly, but that's only ever happened with short stories. And even then, I HAVE to, and I mean HAVE to, let it sit. Even if I think it's perfect - it's not.

This is also why I find it hard re-reading some of my published stories. Not one is perfect. I could easily edit them all again.

The other thing i have found about writing/editing is that, yes, take on suggestions, but by in large, we all write differently. What works for me won't work for you. I hate it when some author you admire almost force feeds you a technique and when you try it, and it doesn't work, you think you're a shit writer. You're not. You're you. Do what works best for YOU. If that means binge writing in a deserted hotel over five days to get the first draft of a novel written while eating only beef jerky, then do it. If it takes you 10 years to write the novel (Catcher in the Rye) then take your time. You'll give up quicker if you try being someone else. All of this takes time to figure out. At the same time it takes you to unfetter yourself from the styles of other authors you admire and develop your own voice, you'll develop you're own style of writing.