Anyone editing?

[LuciferRising]

Been doing so for a rather long time. Started WIP 2 years ago and still on 2nd edit. Each time I comb through the manuscript I end up adding to enhance and am now over 140k words in. I know for fantasy I need to keep below 120k.

I'm going to keep up this round, for character, plot and pace and then I'll need to look to slash and tighten.

Hoping to finish 2nd edit by the end of the year.

Anyone else?

Anyone? I'm thinking I have another 6 months of editing. It is taking me such a long time.

It sounds as though you could do with another pair of eyes on it. Have you ever thought of sending it to a professional editorial service like Jericho writers?

Yes, I have. I've had a look at their services. I was debating between the first 20k words or the whole thing once I have it in a good format. Have you used a similar service?

Want to start editing the novel I drafted for nanowrimo but I’m procrastinating. Did you start at the beginning, first line of chapter one, and take it from there? It feels a bit daunting.

I have started at the beginning and have carved it up so doing each act. I have act 3 to go.

Been doing character, plot, etc and a bit of tightening of the prose.

Once I've done act 3 and I am happy with pace and plot I will likely just randomly target scenes for line editing. This is because act 1 gets most of my effort, because it is where I start.

Really need to remove 25k words.

How about you?

I have no idea where to start, but it’s less than a week since I finished the first draft. Maybe it needs more time to settle?

Ah. Editing.

I now call it 'redrafting' and see the editing bit as being when a professional is involved.

I'm now going to admit, after years of bitter trial and error, that I am now one of those people who just starts again. I write the first draft, then have a think about it. I write a synopsis and look at my key points and the threads I like.

Then I just throw out the first draft and start entirely again. It's honestly easier that way.

Good luck!

@NanoTime I never let my settle. I just launched right into it. By the time I had written the first draft, I had learnt so much that I knew the writing at the beginning needed improving.

I plan to finish Act 3 by the end of the year - and then launch into line edit.

Thanks both. Thinking of it as redrafting makes it feel less daunting, somehow.

I’m still in nano mode and pushing ahead with a sequel but it was good to finally get around to reading the first draft of book 1 and start deleting chunks of it. Deletion is my favourite part of the whole process.

On my fourth edit. I am using text to voice software. Game Changer for me. Picks up typos, flow, repetition, rhythm when listening. Will finish in a week, then read through and understand next steps.

Have slashed 10k words this way, simply by tightening the prose, removing repetition and redundancy. 10k of unneeded words. Do have another 10k to go to get below 120k. This means removing sentences, paragraphs and scenes.