Any Advice on 'Triage'/'Shotgun' Editing?

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Brett Marie

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I have my first typed draft all assembled on disk and feel ready to take the hatchet to it. I know to start in broad strokes so that I don't get bogged down on typos in a section that will get the axe anyway.


Does anyone have advice on how best to start into this? Any rules to follow, or checklists to go through? It's a little daunting, and any pointers might shrink the mountain by a few feet.
 

Cathy C

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Well, first, how long has it been sitting quietly in a drawer? If this is your first novel, the story could be so clear in your mind that you're going to miss things that you believe should be there, but don't actually appear on the page.

The best way I've learned to start the editing process is to get the required distance from my memory of it that I can see the problems. I'll write on something else for a few weeks and then come back.

Now, if you've already done that, then what works for me is to read it all the way through like you would if you were a reader just buying it. Don't actually make edits on the first pass--even though you'll want to. Just make a red star or X on pages where you see problems. You might even make a code, like * for typos/misspellings, X for plot problems or # for dialogue that sounds wooden or stilted. You can make as long a list of codes as you like, or none at all...just so long as it makes sense to YOU. Once you've finished the first reading pass, take the time to really think about the plot. Was it believable? Did the characters seem like they belonged there? Did the characters eat, drink, sleep? Was there enough time given in the plot for real world things to occur (repairmen not showing up on time, paying bills, shopping, weather, etc.)?

Fixing those things might mean characters need to move or be eliminated from a scene, or new characters added. Then, once you've got the characters where they need to be, you can concentrate on dialogue, word choice and other small things. Like most things in life, start with the big stuff and don't sweat the small stuff until the small stuff IS the big stuff. :)
 

jeffo20

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I find it's hard to do this editing thing without getting hung up on the minutiae. What I try to do is keep a notepad so that I can jot down broad story notes or things I think of (p. 17 - she should say blah blah blah) as I'm reading. Once I get through the whole thing I can go back and rewrite, remove, or shift scenes around, AND fix typos, etc.
 

Buffysquirrel

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What really helped me was transferring the ms to an e-reader where I could not edit it. That forced me to sit down and read the thing without fiddling with it. I recommend it, tbh.
 

Brett Marie

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Holly Lisle's One Pass Revision

I haven't used it yet but many folks I know have and they say it's been helpful.

I've just finished the preliminary part of this one, and am going to try the rest out. I'm a bit skeptical that this will work in one pass, though. Can anyone out there vouch for it? Does anyone have success using strictly this method? I'm just curious to know.
 

Libbie

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I've never used that method before, but here's the method that works for me. Write a one-page synopsis of your entire book. You'll need to be REALLY concise in order to keep it to one page. You might be able to get away with a page and a half if your book is really long. If it's an epic fantasy, two pages.

Put some serious thought into writing a damn good synopsis, because you'll need to do full justice to your plot and characters in as few words as possible.

Once you have that written, evaluate it. What did you include in the synopsis? What from your book did you leave out, because it wasn't essential to explaining the plot?

Edit the book accordingly.

Works like a charm. I lost 30,000 words of dead weight from one of my first drafts using this method.
 

Maryn

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I have a checklist I've shared before. It's useful at the nitpick stage only. You may see lots of some of these and none of others, and can edit the list for your own use next novel.

Note that none of these things are truly wrong, but can easily be overused or lead to weak writing.

*-ing beginnings
*-ly
*-ness
a bit
a little
a little bit
a lot
actually
all
almost
always
am
and so
anxiously
anyhow
anyway
appears
are
aren't
as
as * was *-ing
as *-ed
at least
be
been
began *ing
began to
completely
considered
continued
continued to
could be heard/seen/felt/etc.
did
didn't
do/does
doesn't
don't
down
eagerly
every
exactly
exist/exists/existed
extremely
fairly
felt
finally
frequently
get
glared
got
grin/grinned
groaned
had
has
have
heard
highly
hoped
I (in a first person narrative)
intended
is
isn't
just
kind of
knew
know
known
looked
make/makes
many
merely
most
mostly
nearly
need
never
not
noticed
occur/occurred/occurs
of
often
only
planned
prepared
pretty
probably
proceed(ed) to
put
quite
rather
reached
realized
really
recalled
regarded
remembered
saw
seem
seemed
seems
sensed
set out to
show/shows
slightly
smelled
smile, smiled
so (as a sequential word)
so then
some
somewhat
sort of
started to
suddenly
that
then
there was
though
thought
totally
tried to
up
utterly
very
waited to
wanted
was *-ed
was *-ing
wasn't
went
were
wholly
will
wished
wondered
won't
would
 

Layla Nahar

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I'm a bit skeptical that this will work in one pass, though. Can anyone out there vouch for it? Does anyone have success using strictly this method? I'm just curious to know.

I've tried this method, however, I realized that my story was so fundamentally flawed that I set the project aside. But anyway, you can use it in the abstract - it's about fixing the big picture first. That's it. Once you get the big picture fixed, then you can look at the minutiae. Nailing your theme helps when taking a hatchet to the work, as does a concise statement of what the story is about (as in the one page synopses that Libbie describes.) But I think if you are after fixing the story at the same time you fix the language, you could be at it for a long time, much longer that you would if you did one pass for the story, then followed again for the language. (Just trying to remember if Lisle basically say the same thing, and her title is a bit of a bait and switch...)
 

LindsayM

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What really helped me was transferring the ms to an e-reader where I could not edit it. That forced me to sit down and read the thing without fiddling with it. I recommend it, tbh.

This is an excellent idea - thanks for sharing!
 

Aggy B.

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I've just finished the preliminary part of this one, and am going to try the rest out. I'm a bit skeptical that this will work in one pass, though. Can anyone out there vouch for it? Does anyone have success using strictly this method? I'm just curious to know.

It's been a while since I read through the One Pass Method, but when I did try it I found it was very useful. However, I also found that I had to do more than one pass to apply all the stuff she mentioned. My brain wasn't (at that time) big enough to process everything she says to look for all at the same time.

I usually write an outline of what I have as I read through that first draft (just bullet points). Then I piece together which parts are the central plot, which are subplots. Then reread the chapters/sequences in each plot, evaluate if something needs to be expanded, what needs to be cut (my rough drafts always wind up with side plots that don't go anywhere and are really just world building and can usually go bye-bye), and what needs revision.

And then I rewrite, using my notes and the first draft as reference. And I do mean rewrite. Every. Word. It takes longer than cutting and pasting, but I found I couldn't add or effectively revise "chunks". They stuck out from the previous material. (This is probably not an effective method, but it works really well for me, so I always mention it.)

Aggy, now types really fast
 

Maryn

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Think fondly of me every time you use it, in that case. Oh, and imagine me thinner, too, would you?

Maryn, roundish
 
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What really helped me was transferring the ms to an e-reader where I could not edit it. That forced me to sit down and read the thing without fiddling with it. I recommend it, tbh.

If you're going to put it on an e-reader, turn on text to speech and listen to the story as it reads to you; someone suggested that to me and I found lots of problems with my latest short story which didn't seem as obvious when I read the words myself.
 

wampuscat

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If you're going to put it on an e-reader, turn on text to speech and listen to the story as it reads to you; someone suggested that to me and I found lots of problems with my latest short story which didn't seem as obvious when I read the words myself.

Excellent idea. I notice all kinds of things when I read my chapters out loud at my crit group, but I bet I'd notice even more if I weren't the one reading.
 

Brigid Barry

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I have my first typed draft all assembled on disk and feel ready to take the hatchet to it. I know to start in broad strokes so that I don't get bogged down on typos in a section that will get the axe anyway.


Does anyone have advice on how best to start into this? Any rules to follow, or checklists to go through? It's a little daunting, and any pointers might shrink the mountain by a few feet.

Technically I am doing the one pass revision. Technically.

First I read through my whole MS. I asked myself questions about why the characters were acting a certain why, why does this happen, why doesn't this happen, etc. 23,000 words later I had a friend read it after I promised her she could tell me it sucked. It doesn't suck.

THEN I paid to have my MS printed. I invested in a bulldog clip to keep the edited pages separate and got some red pens. This has worked SO much better for me than trying to do it on the computer.

Of course knowing what to edit helps too.

My big issues:

-ing verbs
-ly adjectives
Run on and awkward sentenses
Dialogue tags
I have only (surprisingly) run into two filtered sentences so far

And just because you axe a part doesn't mean it won't end up somewhere else.

I have a part where the girl is running to a very important meeting and she's having an internal monologue of the progression of her profession. People don't do that. So I put a big red box around it and made notes in the margins about what I should have in there instead.
 

CrastersBabies

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What really helped me was transferring the ms to an e-reader where I could not edit it. That forced me to sit down and read the thing without fiddling with it. I recommend it, tbh.

I love my ereader and I do this all the time. There's something about seeing it on a smaller screen. Not sure if it's psychological, or if there's something about what you mention (being unable to edit it). It could also be that the sentence and page "space" is changed as well and that may give fresher eyes. :)
 
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