Take a break before you edit. But... for how long?

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TsukiRyoko

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I'm sure the majority of us would agree that taking a break before editting helps clear your mind and ultimately results in better editting.

But how long should the break be? An hour? A day? A week? A millenium?

I usually find 3-4 days to 2 weeks is enough time to give my eyes a refresher course (or I could be disguising the fact that I'm lazy...). How about you?
 
CheshireCat

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Guess I'm in the minority. It's been a long time since I had the luxury of time to put something in a drawer and wait to polish. (I've never made up my mind as to whether that's a downside to being published, or just a fact of a working writer's life.)

The way I've always worked, I edit as I go, and once I reach the end of the story, it gets sent to NY. The only "break" I take is the short one waiting for the editor's revision notes, and that tends to be no more than a week or two. (Yes, that is unusual; my editor is fast, and the book is almost always already in the schedule.)

Then I go through editing/revising, usually only once. I don't see the manuscript again (or think of if, if I can help it) until it comes back with the copy editor's flags -- from a few weeks to a few months later, depending on how close I was to deadline.

I go through it then, responding to the ce's flags, my final chance to make changes before galleys. Galleys are usually two rounds, first and second pass pages. The first pass gets bound for ARCs if any are going out, and the second pass is what becomes the book.

So I end up with plenty of time to edit and polish.

Of course, by the end of that process, I'm usually working on the next book, and impatient to be done with the previous one.

:)
 
TsukiRyoko

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*passes out* My god, you do sound terribly busy. I'd end up having a nervous breakdown!

It was fun to read about how you do it, though. I can't edit well if I do it as I go along. I need to give my eyes and mind a breather before sorting through my writing.
 
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kristie911 said:
You're supposed to wait exactly 3 days 14 hours and 23 minutes. :)
Click to expand...

Or that could work too. ;)

You guys ever hear the joke about Writing Heaven? (Intended to offend no one, by the way!)

So this writer dies and goes before St. Peter, and St. Peter, he studies the ledger of her life and frowns a bit and says, "You know, this could go either way. So I'm going to let you choose whether to go to Writer Heaven or Writer Hell."

She's thrilled, of course. And, curious as writers always are, asks if she can see what Writer Heaven and Writer Hell look like.

So St. Peter takes her first to Writer Hell. And he opens the door, and as far as she can see are desks. And sitting in uncomfortable chairs, their ankles chained to those desks, are the hunched forms of writers, slaving away.

And there are flames licking at their feet, and they're typing ... and they're typing ... and sweat is pouring from their brows ... and they're typing, and typing, and typing ...

The writer closes the door hastily and asks if she can see Writer Heaven now, please.

So St. Peter takes her to Writer Heaven, and opens the door.

And as far as she can see are rows and rows of desks. And sitting in uncomfortable chairs with their ankles chained to the desks are the hunched forms of writers.

And there are flames licking at their feet, and they're typing ... and they're typing ... and sweat is pouring from their brows ... and they're typing, and typing, and typing ...

The writer slams the door shut and looks at St. Peter in alarm.

"I don't understand! What's the difference between these writers and the ones in Writer Hell?"

And St. Peter smiles and says:




"Well, these are published."



:D


It's all a matter of perspective. LOL
 

scarletpeaches

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I think I've settled into a routine that works for me. I finish something and begin the edit once I've read one or two, sometimes three, novels. Think of it as a palate-cleanse before I go back to reading my own book with fresh eyes. Reading up to three novels can take (given my other commitments) up to a fortnight or so. Sometimes as little as a week.
 

Azure Skye

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I usually don't give myself a break but just go right back into it. It's what works for me. If you feel the urge to jump back in then do it. If it turns out that you feel overwhelmed despite the urge then take a break. It's really a personal thing.
 
Cav Guy

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For novels, I have to ignore them for at least two months before I can go back to them fresh. Otherwise I find that I retain too much memory of what I "think" it looks like and not what it really is.

The period for short stories and articles is MUCH shorter, often only a day or two.
 
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