Writing Tips #5: Editing

This is one several writing tips, all located here: 10 Tips for Writing Awesome Stories.

You might think you can skip this tip because you don’t need to edit (cause you are a great writer). If you want to publish, it’s not done. Trust me. Don’t submit it yet, a mistake I’ve made time and time again. I promise it’s not ready. And if you missed the earlier tips, click here to jump to the start.

When I started writing I thought the real work happened in that first pass. The creation process. Finish that and other than a few minor adjustments, you’re done. Nope. You’ve only  earned the right to start working. If you don’t already have a publisher then you can either hire a top notch editor (at about $5,000 for each pass through your novel) or learn how to do it yourself.

I’m not a pro editor and I don’t have an extra $5,000 to pay a pro, which leaves me in a predicament when I’m polishing off something I want to submit to publishers. For every hour I write, I’ll spend 10-20 hours editing. And it sometimes it takes an hour to draft a single page. That’s up to 21 hours per page for my best work, start to finish. And consider myself moderately proficient at editing (editing is more than just grammar, it’s structure, plot, characterization, etc.). Most of what I write (like this blog) gets edited fast and furiously. But if I want to publish, there is no choice, I have to hit it hard. And even when I spend the full 20 hour ratio I still find typos and things I want to change. That’s why professional editors get paid the big bucks.

I’ve heard Don Henley is a perfectionist and it often drives the people he works with crazy. He’ll spend hours upon hours fixing little issues with his music way after everyone else thinks it is finished. And because of that, he’s a legend and chances are the Eagles recorded at least one of your favorite songs. And now you are singing it in your head. You’re welcome. He paid the price to make it perfect, thousands of hours, and we are grateful. It’s the same with writers. Consider a near perfect writing project that took 2,000 hours to complete: 10% (200 hours) gave us 70% perfection (the first draft) while the remaining 1800 hours only increased it by 18%. That’s how it works. Each degree closer to perfection you tick, the hours increase logarithmically.

It’s possible your plot is so unique and characters so popping that a publisher will see that 70% effort and still buy it, knowing they have a team to clean it up. But that is rare. And if you don’t intend to publish (maybe you just want to post it on a website or share it with friends), that 70% effort may be all you need. But if you want it polished so it has a chance to get picked up, you gotta edit. Even the best edited work can struggle ’cause it’s a brutal market. You better plan on editing.

So how do you learn to edit? First, see tips 1 and 2 which are: Read and Write. How does reading books help your editing? Our brains are incredible machines and pick up even subtle nuances. When you read a well written book, your keen mind plucks out ideas, makes notes of creative metaphors, and starts crafting ways to mimic them. That’s why so many authors answer the question “how do I become a writer” with “Read and Write a lot.” I just finished reading an awesome book, “The Martian.” Guess what? I’m a better writer because of it. And it was fun.

Beyond that advice, I’m not going to tell you how to edit. There are already too many great books, courses, weekend retreats, and seminars on that topic. Let me warn you that I think many aspiring writers get over-focused on the editing and mechanics of writing. My advice is to regularly read a few books to keep your your skills sharp, maybe even take a class or two, but keep focused on the reading and writing part. After all, you want to be an author not an editor, right?

Here are a few suggestions to get your started:

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers

On Writing (But you already read this from tip 1, right?)

The Manuscript Makeover (and anything by Elizabeth Lyon, the editor of my dreams)

Keys to Great Writing

You’ll get better with time. Spend 10,000 hours at it and maybe you’ll be a professional and I can hire you for my books. I’m also testing out several programs designed to help with the editing. If I like what I find, I’ll post a review on them in the near future.

Also, never forget Rule #3 (be wary of writing tips). I can argue that thousands of hours editing would have generated four additional draft-level novels. Five novels for the price of one means you have a better chance of tapping into a unique plot and voice that a publisher will grab despite the messy writing. Wow, did I just pulled the rug out of this entire post? Yes I did.

My point is this: write your way. I think reading a few books on editing is extremely helpful and I suggest it. Courses and seminars can also be helpful but never lose site on what is the most important (say it with me, reading and writing…).

Next week we will talk about plot, characterization, point of view, and other writer jargon.