How Not To Edit

How Not To Complete A Deadline for Book Editing

1. Spend a half hour in the morning looking at facebook
2. Make appointments and sort through papers
3. Take your dog to the dog park for an hour
4. Run all the errands you can think of on the way home
5. Have a snack and look at your email
6. Clean the house
7. Eat lunch and look online some more
8. Sit down and write, download some critique you've already received
9. Gloss over critique, get up and eat an orange with the dog
10. Sit down, open up the draft and then, oh wait - 
11. Check the smoke conditions for the area
12. Check to see if driving to Wyoming would be better than Montana this weekend
13. Remember to check on a local coupon book
14. Click on a link from the coupon site to home furniture
15. Return to facebook, then pinterest, then....
16. Growl at yourself and close down that browser window
17. Get a text from husband, reply, reply...
18. Find the papers you uncovered about your India trips in the paperwork this morning
19. Read through papers, realize there's nothing new to add to the book
20. Blog about how you haven't been editing

The Shape of Editing

Editing a book is a process that goes from Point A to Point B.  IF it seems like a long road with the end a long way away, you may be looking at it wrong.

Editing is not a straight line, it's a spiral from the outside in.  The process is still a long line, but it curves around and around, each circuit brings you closer to the ending spot in the middle.  It's like you're zeroing in closer and closer to your target with every step you take.

I've obviously been on this spiral for awhile and it does seem endless.  But each time I work on it I'm closer to the end.  The line from first draft to edited has been long but made more interesting by the shape of the line I'm on.  I can see where I've come from and where I'm going and trying not to get dizzy in the meantime.

On a side note, the impatient part of my brain that wants to create an not edit, made me do something last week.  I'm writing a new knitting pattern.  I'll update you on it when it's ready for purchase.

Editing for Cheapskates

One of the big drawbacks in self-publishing is the editing process.  A traditional publishing house has editors on staff or on contract that are paid to bring a book to as near perfection as possible.  With self-publishing, a writer is limited to themselves, friends, family and maybe an acquaintance or two with some knowledge.  This actually isn't a bad way to go about this if you have limited funds.  One could of course hire an editor but the costs are quite high - from $500 on up for a good look through.  And that may only hire a one-time edit, not a back and forth process as happens in a publishing house.

I found one clever self-published writer put an afterword about editing.  She shared about the differences in the editing process for a traditional publisher vs. self-publishing.  Her conclusion was to pay the reader a certain amount for each mistake they found (and that she agreed was a mistake) and she could put the corrections in a future update.  It's an interesting idea that tells you're reader that you've done your best and opens the door to their voices too.

Yesterday I came across a crowd funding site that is geared toward creative endeavors with a category of writing.  A few of those raising funds for writing projects mentioned that the funding raised will go toward editing.  Could this be the answer for the self-published?  Perhaps.  I may consider trying this when my next book nears completion.  It's an intriguing idea and I could also have help getting the cover art, promotions and the like.

For now, my book is still just a box of mixed up bones, waiting to be put together.  I have a few more bones to put in the box and am a little surprised at the shape they're taking.  It's like thinking the bones you're working with are from a dog but they are looking more and more like a horse.  We'll see what happens when they're all there.