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This post is one that I'm actually not going to write, because I've never been there.
Instead, I'm going to ask our more experienced writers:
How do you know that your edits are finished and you need to stop?
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I'm not an 'experienced' writer, but I have written a lot of words. Usually short stories and like you I have a book in the works, it is just currently sitting waiting for me to get back to it.
ReplyDeleteUltimately, for me, finished is a line I draw after I've snagged every spelling error and typo, trimmed the text as far back as I can and am satisfied that it is flowing well and the pacing is good. Sometimes it is just a deadline that doesn't give me a chance to do anything else. Most of the time it is, okay, that's it, I'm not looking at it anymore. Simply draw a line, because as an artist, I'm never 100% happy with my work and I would fiddle with it until kingdom come if I could.
Call it and walk away. Put the book down :D
Best wishes,
Liz
(cruising past on the A to Z blogging challenge)
When I start changing sentences back to the way they were in the first place - then I know I'm done!
ReplyDeleteFrom my experience in writing you know that your edits are finished when you have completed your spell checks,gone over the grammar and punctuation several times;read the manuscript over and over; revised, revised and revised and then you read it one more time and your gut reveals to you that there's nothing left in you to bring forth.
ReplyDeleteIt's always good to have someone you trust to look over your work before submitting it to a publisher; others can see what you might not have seen in regards to spelling, grammar, punctuation and reveal it to you.
The reader can mark off any errors that they find in red; after that all you need to do is make the corrections if needed, and then you are finished - ready to submit it!
Your gut already revealed to you that you had nothing else to bring forth regarding the actual story -all you needed was someone to check for spelling,grammar and punctuation.
A lot of times the person making the corrections, if any might point out to you something that you could change about the actual story, however I wouldn't get caught up in that aspect of things- it's your story not the readers.
Hope that helped!
Much success with your book and becoming a published writer!! Congratulations!
I always feel like edits are never REALLY finished. Every time I look at my MSs again, I find things I could tweak or change. I consider myself done when my CPs and betas have been through it and are happy with the story and characters, and when I've been through tweaking and fixing so many times I can't stand to look at it one more time.
ReplyDeleteGreat question. For me it's when I can read through, from beginning to end, and not feel the need to scribble with my red pen. I am very attached to my red pen, so when it's no longer needed, I'm done.
ReplyDeleteOf course, once the MS is returned, the pen comes out, and it's usually needed a little bit more.
I've got absolutely nothing on this one since I'm in no way a writer but just wanted to say good luck! I think it's great you set yourself a deadline and are working towards it! Sounds like an interesting story too!
ReplyDeleteAnna@Herding Cats & Burning Soup
God only knows - I think I'd only stop tinkering with my work if someone opted to publish it for me and told me point blank to stop tinkering! :-)
ReplyDeleteSome Dark Romantic
At some point you just have to accept that near enough is good enough. No matter how many times you look at a MS you will always find more errata or at least phrases that could just flow better.
ReplyDeleteWhen you realize you are still tinkering after all the grammar is corrected, the spell check has finished it's job, you've made sure you've caught all the wrong homonyms (they're/their, it's/is etc.), you've trimmed it s far as it can go and the critique partner or writers group has given their seal of approval, you've perfected your synopsis and composed your inquiry letter, then I would say it's ready to let fly. :)
ReplyDeletePS. Good luck!
I let my critters tell me and then hand it to the editor and wait.
ReplyDeleteI second Alex's reply. Or when you realize you're down to changing one or two word snippets...
ReplyDeleteAll the pointers make good sense. From what I know you have edited a enough times, been beta read and critiqued, time to send the query. The publisher who accepts will have an editor look at it again anyway. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteWow thats great.... keep it up... and nice blog template
ReplyDelete