McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

Would you finish then edit, or backtrack then finish?

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Snowleopard:

--- Quote from: Breandan on September 14, 2010, 06:51:51 AM ---I do a strange mix between the two, often going back over what I have written after I break a bout of writer's block, reading it aloud to my wife (helps me find errors and quirky sentences), and editing accordingly. Then I pick back up and continue on. The edits I do are generally minor, though. I know I will have to go back and completely overhaul the prologue, and at least the first two chapters before I show it to an agent or publisher :D

--- End quote ---

Don't forget to leave the ugly old doorknob. 
(Explaination: friend of mine used to say that when selling a house - the buyer always wants to be able to change something - so you'd leave a big ugly old doorknob - something they'd immediately spot and could change.  Then they'd be less likely to rampage through the rest of the house.
Friend said, editors are sorta like that - give them something moderately obvious to change (not stupid mind you) and they might be less likely to rampage through your writing.  Well, that's what he said.  I don't know if it works but there seems to be some sense to it.

Josh:
I definitely get a first draft done before going back for any major edits. Along the way, though, I will certainly take notes about issues I recognize, inconsistencies I need to go back and fix, etc. That way, once I get to the end and let it sit for a bit, I can mull over how to fix things when the time comes. But yes, if I get too bogged down in editing along the way, it hurts my writing momentum.

Kali:
For what it's worth, I did indeed finish after adding the big scene.  I'm ... having trouble fitting in the hints and lead-ups I wanted, but I think part of that is that I keep getting distracted.  I seem to be doing my 'finesse edit' as I go.  On the other hand, the thing is tighter and more polished now, so at least it's not wasted effort!

I'm going to have to make a concerted effort to focus just on the build-up and stop reading it as I go.

Starbeam:

--- Quote from: Kali on September 14, 2010, 05:15:32 PM ---For what it's worth, I did indeed finish after adding the big scene.  I'm ... having trouble fitting in the hints and lead-ups I wanted, but I think part of that is that I keep getting distracted.  I seem to be doing my 'finesse edit' as I go.  On the other hand, the thing is tighter and more polished now, so at least it's not wasted effort!

I'm going to have to make a concerted effort to focus just on the build-up and stop reading it as I go.

--- End quote ---
Hehe...does it keep drawing you into the story and distracting you from the editing?  I've had that with some scenes.  I've decided that means I did that part of the story well, if it can distract me that much from the editing.

Also with the hints and stuff--what I found worked best when rewriting/editing something to make it fit with a later part of the story was to either write down what I needed to do, or to stop overthinking it and just read through to see where something small could be inserted/changed.  Doing that kept me from rewriting some scenes completely, when all I really needed to do was to delete a chunk and add in a couple lines to connect the two parts that weren't deleted.

Kali:
Well, y'know. I'm reading along, looking for a place to tuck an abruptly ended phone call, and then I go, "Oops. Adverb."  Then I fix that and I get to a part where I'm like, "I took out that bit earlier, I need to remove this" or "This is just plain ugly, I should change it" or "She wouldn't say that, what's a good Southernism I can tuck in here?" and the next thing I know it's 6 hours later and I haven't added one bit to the backstory. ;D

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