I think that I may have fallen into the trap of over-editing. I'm not saying that there is really a need to not edit, but what happens if you can't stop editing. It happens to so many people, or so I've heard. I want everything to be perfect and to do that, I've convinced myself that another round of editing is essential.Here's a breakdown of my editing:
Round 1 - Change from present tense to past
Round 2 - Cutting almost 90,000 words
Round 3 - General editing
Round 4 - Improving conversation
Round 5 - Improving scene progression
Round 6 - General [again] - After Critique #1
Round 7 - Hook
Round 8 - General - After Critique #2
Round 9 - ?
Don't get me wrong - editing is necessary and not bad. But, I've gotten into a rut of editing and fixing [maybe changing] something for the sake of changing. I need to finish and get ready to be the query stage. I was at a conference x 2 weeks ago and things went great. I'm not sure how I let myself fall back onto the treadmill - going fast but going nowhere.
Therefore, I am setting a goal and writing it down - need to be done editing in next two weeks and move onto the Query stage. This is what will happen - but in the meantime - here I go....back to editing a little bit more!
If you're at the stage where the edits are all lateral (you're not improving, just changing), then STOOOPPP! :)
ReplyDeleteP.S. My word verifcation was actually "Clang." I think that was the bell to release you.
ReplyDeleteI think that a lot of my edits are indeed "lateral" - It's definitely time to forge ahead.
ReplyDeleteEditors will help in editing. Move on to queries, and get your work out there. Exciting to follow a fellow author on the journey.
ReplyDelete