So, my husband watches UFC. For anyone who does not know what that it is—it is mixed martial arts—and people basically people fight. And for some reason, editing my novel is reminding me a little of a UFC main event competition. I am stuck in the ring with my book, and I am wondering: when will I ever come out on top? Will I last all five rounds?
First Round: Self-editing (several times)
Second Round: Sent out the first chapter of my book for a sample edit from various editors, so I could choose who I would work with the best –> I discover many things I need to fix from the one chapter edit –> apply the tips to my entire novel = another draft complete
Third Round: Developmental and Copy/line editing (editor had the book for about 4 weeks); I spent this time in bed with horrendous pregnancy morning (all-day) sickness—it thankfully (miraculously) ended just as I got my book back –> Major changes/revisions (deleting about 30K words out of 82K & working on adding about that many back in)
***Here is where I am at right now.
I am in the ring.
Bloody. Bruised. Broken.
But loving the new and shiny look of my book. Thankful for having had it developmentally edited, but now freaking out about how much more money I need to spend on future rounds.
I am in the process of working out the next round of costs with my editor. The most expensive version of editing to be done on all the “brand new” text + line editing/proofing on the rest of the text = Ouch/cha-ching.
I am thankful to many of my blog followers/commenters for their recent advice. And I am also grateful for the tips I have discovered from other blogs, such as downloading the Hemingway App. I have to say I am pleasantly (oops-remove adverb . . .) surprised by it. I have checked the first 3 chapters of my book using the app to discover any use of passive voice, adverbs, and so forth—so it is a great tool for self-editing! I was also reading a great post on Lucy Goacher’s blog recently, called: Filtering Out Filter Words – and she made me wonder if I am using certain words (such as sight words, like ‘looked’) too many times. I began re-reading my manuscript and realized I say “looked” a lot. Thanks Lucy—I am now working on this!
So, here I am, working on my manuscript (and well, blog post) at almost one a.m., because I just got my toddler to sleep (FINALLY) at midnight. I am beginning to wonder if a lot of my adverbs or use of “looked” is due to the late hour—or just laziness . . . I am going to blame it on being tired (for now).
So, will I make it to the final round of the main event? Will I be the winner (aka- complete the novel)? Stay tuned to find out!
PS- Fun fact: If anyone recognizes Conor McGregor from my picture- my husbands’ love of this sport has impacted my book—because now whenever I think of one of my supporting characters (named: Connor) I can’t get his “bloody” (using McGregor’s Irish accent right now) image out of my head!!!
check out: Lucy Goacher’s Blog |
https://lucygoacher.wordpress.com/
Sounds like you’re doing all the right things – it’s amazing the polish a professional edit gives, isn’t it? I just think it’s one of the best investments you can make in your work, even though, as you say, it can be a bit ca-ching 🙂 I am wrestling with structure at the moment as my MS goes off to the editor next week – it is a bit of a battle, you are correct, but so very worth it in the end. Good luck!
Good luck! As you said- it it worth it! let me know how things work out for you- we can get through this together 🙂
Thanks Brittney, will do 🙂 Look forward to hearing how your edit works out as well x
The Hemingway App sounds interesting. I may have to give that a try : )
Hey Brittney, thanks for the plug! I fell behind with my reading so I’ve only just seen this, otherwise I would have thanked you sooner. 🙂
I don’t know what your writing history is, but I really learned on the job when writing my first novel. With each edit I found another huge flaw or bad habit I had to rip out, and even what I thought was my final version needed a subsequent bit of pruning. It never ends!!
Aside from eventually being able to let go and write ‘the end’, I think it’s important to remember to edit your edits – especially new scenes you’ve written. Even with more knowledge and skill at your fingertips, errors can still creep in. So give yourself enough time away from your MS to see it with fresh, objective eyes – just in case.
For now, good luck with your editing! You can do it!
Thank you so much 🙂