Wednesday already?!?!? I've been doing this blog for a week and a half now, and I have more support than I ever thought possible! Please do not be shy to start a conversation in the comments, let me know what you think, what you want to hear about (I take requests!) or even just let me know you're listening. I will always respond ASAP as without an audience, my blog would be obsolete.
It's editing day! Right now I'm smack dab in the middle of editing a proof that is on its way to being published. It's a great story and I'm stoked for it to come out. I find it a little easier to edit a hard copy sometimes. For some reason, it just looks different on a page rather than a screen, and I like holding it in my hands and being able to take red pen to paper. I guess I'm a little old school in that respect; I do have a Kindle, but I still buy paper books. I suppose it's akin to downloading mp3s and still buying the CDs.
Editing a proof holds a little bit more pressure than editing a book being released electronically. This is black and white baby. No going back. Unless you want your author to strangle you. When you edit an electronic copy, it's a little bit easier for an author to correct the errors, but when you edit the proof and the author prints up 100 copies, that's for real. This is a great juncture to pinpoint any holes in the story. This read-through is my 3rd or 4th time reading this book in a short span of time. By now, it's easier to find gaps or inconsistencies because, for all intents and purposes, I am intimate with the plot. I know that sounds weird, but it's true. And it's a completely different intimacy than the author has with it, which is good. You don't want to be that close to it if you're going to edit it. I've tried to edit my own work, it sucks. I change things constantly. The author needs to be able to say 'this is my story and I'm proud of how it came out'. My personal opinion is that editing your own work causes you to overthink the story, and often subsequently leads to the writer changing something that ultimately began as an amazing piece of work.
So the moral of today's blog: Don't edit your own stuff. As I've written before, it's important to overcome that feeling of vulnerability. Even if it's not a professional editor, it's good to hear someone else's opinion of what you've written. Your work might drive you crazy and make you want to re-write every time. But you can't be sure unless you let someone else use their imagination to picture the world you've created. That is an incredible way to know if you're writing enough; if someone else can picture it. The best books I've read are ones that draw out my imagination and create a whole world inside my head. Listen when people say "I can't picture that in my head" or "I have no idea what that person looks like", because it doesn't mean your story sucks. It means "I want to know more, and I need you to give it to me in order to enjoy the other components of your story." And that's a good thing. It's always good when people want to know more about your characters or settings; it means they're interested and have amazing expectations from you. Only you can deliver your readers into the world you've created, and it's your responsibility to make it cohesive enough to transport them into your story.
Thanks for stopping by, ya'll! Tomorrow is random thoughts, so tune in because who will know what will fall out of my brain and onto the page!
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