Friday 15 April 2016

Writing Words - The Editing Process Begins...Well, Sort Of.

 I've taken a week's holiday from work. I had these great plans to spend this whole week writing and editing furiously, but I don't know what is about holidays, as soon as I'm off, procrastination sets in like fast drying cement. Normally I'm a good blogger and get all my blog posts written by the end of Thursday ready for the following week. That didn't happen and I was still wrestling with what to write in blog posts up till Wednesday. 

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However, I have forgiven myself for lack of productivity because I realise that sometimes my body resists and just says no and I have to go with the flow. Sometimes it's OK to work your way through a series after series on Netflix. Sometimes it's perfectly fine to sit and do absolutely nothing. So honestly I'm OK with how little I've done this week. I'm not in a race. Who would I be racing? Just myself!

Anyway I did do one thing that I've been meaning to do that was essential for me to start editing. I created an editing  check list. Before attending workshops and Bookbound, editing was  like some kind of mysterious magical land that I didn't have a clue how to access. Seriously my brain could not comprehend how to edit my book. I didn't know where to start and I would growl at anyone who told me that they loved editing. 

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 Since attending editing workshops, I've got my head around it but it still feels like such a daunting task. So this time I wanted to create a checklist with all the elements I needed to cover in one place with the dates of achievements attached. Each time I reach one of my goals, I intend to treat myself with something lovely, even if it is an evening off to binge watch Grey's Anatomy or The Big Bang Theory. As my Bookbounding pal, Rowena House, mentioned last week, we must celebrate each milestone we reach. By celebrating we give ourselves something to work hard for and look forward too.
I thought I would share my editing checklist, because it might help someone else out there, who gets a bit scared by the black hole of editing. I'm sure I will add more to it as I go along as I'm bound to have missed something out, but it's a start. It's a mixture of elements from Novel Metamorphosis and classes I've taken. 
 I'm intrigued by how everyone else edits. So please do let me know in the comments if you have different methods of editing.

Achievements This Week
New Words: 3,328

Editing
Presently grinding my teeth as I prepare my book map for my 5 to 7 year old story. Also mind mapping ideas for possible future stories with the characters from this book. 

3 comments:

  1. One useful addition I found via McKee's Story (I think) was to think in terms of sequences - a series of scenes which form a mini-story arc of their own. An inciting incident can then lead to a payoff a bit of a way down the road but not too far away. That might be overkill for 5-7 but by MG could be useful. Great post as always! And thanks for helping me celebrate milestones.

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    1. Oooh I have even attempted to do that. But I can see how useful that would be. Thanks Rowena.

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  2. Vivienne, I think you are on the "write" track with all of this. Editing is very different than writing, and sometimes it helps to take a real break between writing and editing. Relaxing and watching enjoyable shows may actually aid the work you do in the long term. Best of luck to you!

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Hiya, thanks for stopping by, it is always nice to hear what you have to say, so do leave a comment if you have time.