Do you have an editing plan?

by Adrian Sroka
5th March 2015

Do you have an editing plan, or do you try to edit everything you find that needs fixing?

Replies

My editing plan is basically to finish the first draft, read through it once, see what I've missed out fully edit it, go back re-edit it etc. etc. It's tedious but I find that if you've changed a tiny bit in one chapter, it can cause a massive ripple effect throughout the piece so it's best to be prepared to edit the whole thing each time, or you miss out/overlook bits or make it more jarring. Also by the 3rd/4th draft that's when I let my editing team have their copies. I wait for their feedback, do a couple more edits then give them another copy. When I get that edit back I write one or two more then release. I hope that helps!

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Shaun
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Shaun Woodgates
07/03/2015

I've written quite a number of short stories lately. I've now developed a sort of plan. Once I've drafted an outline of the story, I write it without trying to edit it as I go. Once I have a complete draft, I like to leave it a few days before looking at it. I probably go through it another two or three times. Sometimes I do a specific edit looking at point of view, or relationship of dialogue to narrative. At some point you have to say enough is enough.

My novel, which I am trying to resurrect, I tended to edit as I went. You can very easily get bogged down like that. I'm now going to treat a chapter like a short story, which in effect they are.

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Malcolm
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Malcolm Richardson
06/03/2015

When I write a short story I complete it, then leave it for a few days, then begin editing. But I do just go at it as many times as is necessary. With the one and only novel, I kept writing but did use editing as a way of getting back into the book. So the answer to your question is no to having a plan.

Regards

Ken

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Ken
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Ken May
06/03/2015