There's only so many times you can edit your work - isn't there?

[monkeytree]

I have been working on editing the second chapter of my novel for days now. Each time I find some new mistake, cut a chunk out, add a bit, restructure a sentence and so on to the point where I'm going off the whole thing! This is only chapter 2! I have a beta reader lined up and that is giving me a focus to get the prologue, chapters 1 and 2 edited and then forward my work to her. Does anyone else experience this or could it be that my first draft was completely awful?- I certainly know that it was written off the cuff and now I am much more pleased with it but I honestly didn't realise how long it would take me to edit my work; is this normal - anyone?

Sounds totally normal. Your first draft - like everyone's first draft - was, indeed, completely awful. And that's exactly how it's meant to be! Editing is where your work really takes shape.

It's a slow (and sometimes painful) process, but it's essential, and when it's finished you'll know it was worth it. Keep going and good luck.

I'm currently on the 4th edit of my manuscript, I've been at it for weeks and I thought it was getting into shape so I sent it to my kindle to read it like a proper book and I'm finding mistake after mistake! Gaaaah!

Thanks for your replies. Each time I edit my work, it does seem to improve and I have learnt a lot but I underestimated the length of time it would take. I was setting mini goals for myself - one chapter a fortnight but I've exceeded the second target. Does anyone else set targets for themselves if so do you find this motivating or do you just let your work unfold in its own time?

I work full time so I had to have goals for myself or I would I have kept putting it off. Both when writing and editing I had a rough amount of time I wanted to complete a draft by. You can use it as a guide but you have to accept that some days writing (or even editing) will be like walking through treacle, so you can't beat yourself up too much.

That said, I wrote a very quick first draft without looking back at it at all. That meant I could say I'd written my 70,000 words and accomplished something. Then I started editing it and it was much easier that way for me. If I'd written and edited each chapter as I went, I think I might have got demotivated very quickly and probably given up.

Yes I've done the same thing Kai; I wrote the first draft quickly and now I'm trying to drill down on each chapter and trying to finalise each one as I go. I'm finding that it's satisfying but requires a lot of persistence! Prologue + 2 chapters nearly complete, probably approx 10 + epilogue to go!

Ah sorry, I didn't realise from your post that you'd already got a full draft done! You can't really rush it, all that will happen is that you'll go back for a third draft and find a load more stuff to fix. Good luck!

I tend to do four or five edits, deadlines allowing.

A broad read through to check that the thing works as a whole. Difficult one this as the writer is ofteh too close to properly assess.

A voice read through. I will read each POV character's sections individually to ensure the voice is consistent.

A pace read through. I focus on pace and tighten up anything that can conceivably be tightened.

A word polish. I'll look at it at word level to improve it there. I'll focus on imagery, dialogue, description etc. I'll often take out anything I feel is too flowery or overwritten.

After that just spit and polish,

Thought if I'm overrunning in time it might get subbed without any of these stages .

Editing does take a long time and it can feel never ending, but I wonder if maybe you are getting a bit stuck on this one chapter op? I'm definitely no expert - only 2/3 through a first draft of first novel! - but Haircut's advice sounds good to me. Sounds like a way to keep a sense of momentum for each draft, and don't lose sense of the overall arc by getting hung up on detail too quickly.

I think if I were you I'd get it sent off the beta reader and see what she says - might help to get a new perspective. Good luck!

Thanks for your replies - I have decided to ship my work out to a beta reader on Friday that's it; I've had enough - editing this work is driving me potty and my perfectionist streak is in full flow!

You might find these links useful - Emma Darwin is my favourite writing blogger.

emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/2010/03/revising-and-editing-building-the-orient-express.html

emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/2012/11/when-do-you-stop-revising.html

I wrote a handful of random chapters - I think it was 1,2,3,6,9,13 and sent it to one beta reader for feedback. Then I wrote the rest of the book (95 000 words) in three months. Then I started editing...

About four months later I sent the improved version to another four readers, then I read it myself over and over again (on my Kindle) proof reading. (I know people say you can't do this yourself but I picked up a lot of technical errors like missing closing quotes, etc.) Every time I found an error I made a note, then when I finished the read-through I made the corrections and started again. Eventually I stopped finding errors, and at that point I sent it to yet another beta reader.
Then I started on the hyphenation. The OED came to my rescue here.
The book went back and forth to this sixth beta reader several times. Once they stopped finding errors I sent it to one more reader.
The whole editing/proof reading process took six months - twice the time it took to write the first draft.

And now I'm going to do it all over again for another book!