To everyone still editing for NaNoEdMo - good continuance!
My favourite days were with the terrace doors open, a blanket on my knees, gloves on my hands, watching the snow drift down. Snow and editing go well together. After two months of diligence, I ran out of steam - but I hit my targets. But now I can see I have more to do than I even realised.
You see, the size of the task multiplies. Unseen loose ends. Writing more from scratch than expected. Though I revisited that raw NaNoWriMo spirit and had a couple of highs as things fell into place. But how many edits will I need? Julia Crouch cites about five.
Going back to it over and over, like stripping away layers of paint.
Maybe it's good to decide what the rewrite or edit is for.
- I think this was the Plot Edit, since you can't finesse the style when the characters' motivations are weak and the narrative doesn't make sense
- Then we might have a Character Edit where we look at motivations and emotions
- Then we might look at Style and cutting the padding and tweaking the poetry..
Or is it possible, for some supereditors, to do it all in one writethrough?
I discovered some of my writing habits.
1) I'm a denier about plot inconsistency, basically because I'm impatient to get on
2) I combine a lot of different themes. I don't know if there are too many, or if maybe a novel can support that. Somehow I'm drawn to the intricacy of it - but sometimes I read something really focused and elegant and think this intricacy masks indecision
3) I can get addicted to anything - Anything! Even decaffeinated coffee