scfirenice said:
The pros recommend at least two weeks. Start something new though, so you get the work out of your mind.
It doesn't necessarily have to be writing, does it? If I write another story, it'll be holding me captive for a good 3 or so months, I normally spend virtually every hour I'm awake writing when I'm working on a new story. I'm horrible at juggling writing and something else. But, I have a few other things I could do, maybe level editing for a computer game, cross-stitching, building a model car or two . . .
icerose said:
Also I try breaking it down into paragraphs and analyzing paragraphs rather than just reading it. Otherwise I start skimming or reading rather than editing.
I do the same thing normally. I get Word to check the reading level of each paragraph, and edit it until it's a certain level or higher. Once it's right, I highlight it in dark gray. If I'm having trouble reaching that level, I highlight it in light gray, so I can tell which I need to take a closer look at. Then, if I notice a lot of light gray in a certain area, I'll be able to see that I wasn't paying very much attention there, and I should reread it just to see what happened.
Cathy C said:
Work on something else, or just relax and give your muse a break.
I think my muse badly wants a break, he kept calling in sick towards the end of the story.
Also, when you first decide to go back and look at it, MAKE SURE that you either change the margins or the font in the whole document. This will get you away from what you expect to see on the page. It's sort of like muscle memory. You don't even realize that a word is missing or added unless it's in a different order.
Hey, that's a neat idea! I never thought about it before, but one thing I liked to do was to resize all the font 2 sizes larger. I'd change the view, too, normally it's at 150%, I change it to page width. I always thought 12 point Times New Roman was too small for printing, but judging by what I read here, that's perfectly fine. However, I
think the margins weren't right. They're set to 1 inch top and bottom, and 1.25 inches left and right, right now.
Good luck, and pop a bottle of champagne for your accomplishment!
Ah, if only the legal drinking age were 18 here, not 19.
There's no champagne here, so I broke into my smuggled liquor stash to celebrate after I finished.
scfirenice said:
Another suggestion is to read from back to front, that way the story doesn't engage you and it can make it easier to spot flaws,
I had trouble with getting too wrapped up in an older story I wrote, that would've helped a lot. It had been well over a year since I wrote it, and I was getting really into it, then I realized I wasn't editing anything. (After I saw a misplaced word and shook my head at myself, passed it by, then remembered the whole point of what I was supposed to be doing.)
I'd only do this after you get the first edit done though, sometimes you miss a break in the story that may need to be fixed by doing it this way.
Yeah, I had a few names I wanted to change around, and they're fairly close to the beginning. By the time I get through 300 pages or so, I might not realize I'm looking at things I meant to change when I found them. I mean, Word can replace find and replace words, but the town name is going to be a bastard, because it was a location type of name. (Rocky Ridge, it was going to be replaced right from the beginning, but I was out of ideas. New name is Fairplay.)
I made a few references to the main character going to the 'ridge that earned the town its name', Word can't fix that. The new name is pretty ironic, because the town's inhabitants are anything
but fair to the character. She would probably make some kind of sarcastic comment about that, and I could easily screw up appropriately placing it, then not realize I should be looking for a better place to put it during later edits. If I'm into the story, I'll be able to tell when she'd say or think something along those lines.
vmtwriter said:
That's the best way to edit something, when you can't recall every scene and sequence and "predict" or "know" what's going to happen next.
Oh, I don't need to wait long for that.
I have the memory of a goldfish. I was sleeping so bad that I was just creating things, and not thinking about them long and hard enough to remember them. I don't really remember much of what I put in the beginning already.
Have several rounds of edits as well, and concentrate on only a few topics at a time. First edit can be for continuity.
Mine will probably be for misplaced words. When I'm typing, if I subconsciously realize I just typed a wrote word, I'll type the closest thing to what I wanted to write. The meaning doesn't matter, the length and the amount of characters compared to what I wanted to write does. So, if I go to write 'expected', but hit 'a', I'll probably write 'accepted'. I noticed when I was writing a few spots where I meant to write 'shot' and instead wrote one of the words this forum doesn't approve of.
Good luck with your editing. Sounds like you have a massive project ahead of you. That's a lot of pages!
Yeah, the idea of doing it scares me, but I'm going to be 19 next year, and I'm working towards trying to get a story published then. I gotta have something ready by then, and why not this one? I'll need to shorten it considering I've never been published before, probably, but still.
HConn said:
A pro elsewhere had a 5-4-3-2-1 method for preparing yourself to turn a first draft into something better. As I remember it, it went like this; See 5 classic movies, 4 great plays, 3 terrific concerts, read 2 great novels, see 1 great art show.
Works for him. He uses all those different events to raise his standards as high as possible.
Hmmm. I live in Hicktown, and I don't have a car. Don't know how I'm going to see 3 concerts unless I wait for the yearly country music concerts in town. 3 years before I edit, that might be a bit much.
There's no plays in this town, same for art galleries. Unfortunately, I won't be able to try that.
I just checked to see how much writing I did, but it looks like I was writing roughly 8-10 hours a day. I started the story May 21st, ended it August 16th, looks like I took more days off than I thought, I wrote 52 of those days. Now I get why I'm so damned tired, I was sleeping something like 6-8 hours a day during that, I'm used to 10-12. Time to find a little more coffee . . .
Thank you for everyone who helped me with info so I could finish this to begin with. 
