Editing Woes…
Wow! I was asked to write an article about writing. I had put it off due to time constraints and finally yesterday I was able to sit down and write it. It was posted here and the response was fantastic! So I thought perhaps I might continue to write articles about writing. Today I am going to talk about editing.
I just finished editing my September release for LazyDay Publishing, The Road To Forever. This is Book 6 in my Fab Five series. Whew! You’d think by now I’d know the difference between passive voice and active voice. Apparently not. I think a lot of times when I’m writing, the ideas are flowing and I write what comes to mind. Then I go over it several times before sending it in. When you look at something so many times. I think you fail to see the obvious. When edits are returned, you look at the comments the editor made and say “Well, duh, I knew that.”
So today, I spent a little time rewording some sentences, changing from passive to active voice, something I knew but just didn’t get the first time around.
I’ve also learned that people in different areas have different customs, beliefs, and superstitions. Well, yes, I already knew that, but when edits get returned by an editor who lives in a different area, they sometimes question something I’ve written, which to me was very commonplace. Or they sometimes suggest something that I’d never heard of…
And punctuation…oh my…that one gets me every time…comma placement. Yes, I’m getting better at it, but there always needs to be a few changes made.
A lot of writers cringe when the edits hit their inbox. I was scared to death the first times I got a set of edits. But I’ve learned it’s part of the process and it only makes me a better writer. I’ve read many books over the years and now I find myself editing as I’m reading. I’ll see something in a book and think wow, my editors would have a field day with this.
I even have some of my friends and family doing the same thing as they’ve heard me talk about things that are no-no’s with editors.
I have a new book coming out in a week and a half. Book 5 in the series. It’s about a girl in an abusive relationship and the guy who saves her. Was it difficult to write. You’d better believe it was! After writing some of the more intense scenes, I found that I just had to get up and walk away for a bit. And there’s one line near the end that gets me every time I read it…still…I cry. I’ve been told this is the book that will reach the very souls of my readers so we’ll see. I’ve posted the cover art for it with this article.
Until next time…
Anna
you’re a great writer.. I just might have questions about formatting books that might trigger an article
Thanks, Melanie. If you’re on Facebook, add me.
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I love to edit my pieces, but only after leaving them alone for several weeks. I have a clearer perspective when I re-read them, and suddenly, those phrases or sentences I fell in love with, don’t seem that important anymore. However, just like you, there’s always that one scene that resonates, and you know that is the one to keep, no matter how many changes you make.