Wait time between finishing a story and editing?

[TheNightTerror]

I thought I’d better swing by here while this was on my mind. I was curious, how long should you wait between finishing a story and editing it? The story I wrote was definitely the longest I’ve ever written, 568 pages, (I think the second longest was 506) and I’m definitely burned out. I was barely sleeping when I was writing, so should I wait until I’ve caught up on my sleep, or should I wait a week or two, maybe longer? Or, do you guys have a trick for being able to tell when you’re ready to edit? I’d love any info. :) (I read on one of the articles here that you should distance yourself from the story before editing it, and editing has always been one of my weak spots, so I thought I better try that this time around.)

I have quite a bit of data on this story, I was logging what times I started and stopped writing each day, but I haven’t gone through the story to collect it all just yet. I’ll post that here when I have it, just for kicks.

This site absolutely rocks, all of the articles here really helped me write more, and write more interesting stuff. I didn’t bother with any filler chapters to lengthen the story, I don’t even wanna think of how long it would’ve been if I had. I'm never interested in filler, so I always crawl through those chapters, and I burned through most of this story. :hooray: Thank you for everyone who helped me with info so I could finish this to begin with. :Thumbs:

[scfirenice]

The pros recommend at least two weeks. Start something new though, so you get the work out of your mind. After two weeks I picked up my ms and did light editing, still thinking it was great. Two more weeks later, I picked it up and thouhgt, WOW do I have a lot to fix. The further removed you are either by time or you are into another work, the easier it is to be objective and fix the bigger problems.

[icerose]

If you don't give yourself enough time you won't see the flaws. How much time depends on you. If you start reading it and have gotten through a couple of chapters and can't see anything or very little wrong with it you haven't given yourself enough time. I work on something else so the story isn't in the front of my mind. 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. My biggest flaws are sentences, making them active and interesting.

[Cathy C]

If it took you a long time to write, I'd suggest waiting a minimum of a month or two. Work on something else, or just relax and give your muse a break. I agree that you'll see things a month later that you'd never have considered! 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.

Good luck, and pop a bottle of champagne for your accomplishment! :)

[maestrowork]

I'd suggest a month. Two weeks minimum.

[scfirenice]

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'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.

[vmtwriter]

Everyone has really good suggestions. I just finished a book as well, and waited at least 3 weeks before I even thought about editing it. I'm in that process now. I'm re-reading things that my mind is saying, "Huh, I wrote that?" Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not so good. <GRIN>

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. You should be reading it as if it is something new to you. Working on another project in the meantime will help clear your mind.

Have several rounds of edits as well, and concentrate on only a few topics at a time. First edit can be for continuity. Another edit can be for grammar and punctuation. Another edit can be for all the adverbs. Then another edit for showing versus telling. If you're like me, you can only concentrate on one thing at a time anyway. But, I've known many others who can do several edit topics at the same time.

Good luck with your editing. Sounds like you have a massive project ahead of you. That's a lot of pages!

[HConn]

I just waited three months. I wrote another first draft in that time.

I'm glad I did. It gave me the distance I needed.

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.

[TheNightTerror]

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 . . .

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.

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. :tongue

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. :tongue

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.

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. :tongue 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. :tongue

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.

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. :tongue


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 . . . :Coffee:

[Mike Martyn]

.....


Hmmm. I like in Hicktown, .... :Coffee:



I'm guessing Horsefly or Spuzzum.http://absolutewrite.com/forums/images/icons/icon10.gif

[TheNightTerror]

I think I'm going to be laughing all day now. :D I seriously live less around an hour or so from Horsefly, in probably the nearest decent sized town. I live far enough out of downtown that there's nothing around, though.

And that quote just proved no matter how many times I reread something, I always miss a misplaced letter, somewhere . . .

[rowriter]

I have an additional question that relates to this thread. I'm working on my first novel, so when the first draft is completed I know I'll have lots of cut scenes, possibly areas that need to be totally rewritten, new stuff written in, all that stuff...this is much more than just editing, in my viewpoint, it's rewriting. (no, I did not have an outline...lol)

Are there a lot of you that end up changing/adding/rearranging huge chunks of your novel, and if so, how long do you usually spend on this before moving on to more detailed editing? I'm afraid of becoming muddled in the "but maybe the scene would be better here instead of here" mindset.

[mollythemagnificent]

I usually wait a minimum of eight weeks, and spend that time on other projects or doing minor tweaking. After a long haul on a novel, I get so close to the words that I lose my objectivity. It depends on you, though. Whenever you can look over your work and feel that you're looking at it through fresh eyes, you're ready to edit.

[mollythemagnificent]

Rowriter: to your point, I made some major changes to my last novel during revisions. I spent about a week tearing the hell out of it before I felt that I finally had everything in the right place and could get down to finer details.