The Joys of Editing

One of the hardest things about writing (other than sitting that ass in a chair and write) is the editing. Editing makes go you back and makes you realize that you’re a terrible writer. Something I found out is that isn’t true.

Yes, you realize that something doesn’t sound quite right when working through your finished first draft. And I realized that that’s okay. Because you were just writing to get through. Sometimes you need that breath of fresh air before finding out what goes in that particular sequence. And I think this is where many writers get discouraged when writing. It’s a habit that you learn to leave behind when writing: editing while writing.

Mistakes are mistakes and they’re meant to be made. This is why we go back an reread. Only this morning did I find that I spelled fell as felt. And “I felt on my back” isn’t the same as “I fell on my back.”

It’s the hours poured into your book that makes it special. And sometimes, you have to slaughter your darlings to make things make sense.

Many times that I’ve gone back to write and edit, I’ve glanced over some pretty significant information that was inaccurate. I’ve had people’s names change halfway through a story and forgot to change one name. Something that I’ve learned is to read the passages out loud. This helps with those bumps and awkward places readers will read.

If you’re starting to write, don’t worry about editing until the very end. There is some process to the madness.