When to edit?

[Holyforkingshirtball]

I am writing a middle grade book and am currently onto chapter 6. To get an idea of whether I'm on the right lines I submitted the first chapter on scriptophile and have had some good feedback but I don't know whether I should edit Ch 1 and then keep writing the rest or to write the whole thing and then edit the whole thing as one.

What does everyone else do / what do you think works best?

Depends what works for you.
I prefer to write the lot, do basic edits (sometimes something comes up in a later chapter that means I want to add/take parts out) and then ideally put it through scribe for edits.

Other people put it through as they write it, and that suits them well.

For me, because I plan very little, I think I do need to go through the first writing then edit, as things become clear to me as I write, which means little alterations. Sometimes it's a backstory that explains why they react towards the end in a specific way, which means I might need to have them make a comment earlier. Nothing big. For example I had a character who suddenly reacts over something towards the end of the book, and I realised he'd had a nasty encounter with dogs when smaller. So I then went back and just made a few points of him avoiding dogs/makes a comment of "horrid furry animals", just enough so a reader might think "oh yes, I knew he didn't like them".

If you plan a lot more than I do, then you may not need to do this.

Are you in the Middle Grade Author's group? I've made some good crit partners on there-they're a friendly lot!

I’m not in that group, but it sounds like I should join. I’m still getting used to using it and it’s quite time consuming trying to critique and write too, but i think reading other people’s writing is very helpful as well as the direct critiques.

I would try to write to the end before editing. It’s much easier to edit a complete draft, you’ll have a better sense of what needs to change. Trying to perfect each bit as you go along can end up stalling the project altogether.

@AppropriateAdult

I would try to write to the end before editing. It’s much easier to edit a complete draft, you’ll have a better sense of what needs to change. Trying to perfect each bit as you go along can end up stalling the project altogether.

That's what I thought but then I wasn't sure if it would improve the future chapters if I edited the first part. I'll stick with my original plan. (Hopefully) finish it then edit. Thanks