A couple of days ago I was at a friend’s house, dropping off some craft supplies for the Girl Scout meeting. I was in a hurry, as always, made my goodbyes, jumped in the car, turned the key in the ignition…and nothing happened. And I mean nothing. It wasn’t like the car even tried to turn over…and I’d just been driving the darned thing minutes earlier.
I can do a few things with a car—I can change a tire, add some oil…but I’d probably just call AAA auto club to come and do those things, since we have a membership. I had a feeling this problem was battery related so I popped open the hood.
My friend and I looked at the engine dubiously. Finally, I noticed that there was a cable that was kind of flopping around. I frowned at it. “That couldn’t be right, could it? Some cable not connected to anything?”
My friend said, “You know, I think that’s supposed to clamp onto the battery. See? It’s got a red cover on it and there’s the green one.”
Ahh. I hooked it onto the battery terminal, or whatever it was. I jumped into the car and it started right away.
I know very little about cars, but I do know when something doesn’t look right.
I’ve focused a lot on editing this week, probably because I just finished a slew of it recently. Now I’m back in the creative part again, but the editing still lingers in my mind. So my mind jumped right back to editing as I hurried back home.
I think that sometimes we can overthink the editing process. It seems so daunting (or boring) sometimes, but really…all it boils down to is that we’re searching for something that doesn’t look right.
Now the car engine was completely unfamiliar to me, so my eye went right to the thing that didn’t look right. But with a manuscript, we’ve been working so closely with our words that it can be hard to get that distance.
Ways that we can distance ourselves enough from a manuscript to find the things that don’t look right?
Time: You can put your manuscript down for as much time as possible, then return to it.
Reading aloud: This is a method that I use and it does help quite a bit.
Change of scenery: I really don’t know why this works, but it does. If I’ve written the majority of the book at home, then I’ll go to the coffeehouse to edit it, or vice versa.
Different font: I’ve heard this trick before, but haven’t used it. Some swear by putting your manuscript in a completely different font for editing.
What gives you the distance to see when something doesn’t look right?
i love to read your journey as a writer coz i’m writer wannabe..this entry is so inspiring:)
Time and distance always work for me. I’m in the middle of editing, too. It’s not the first skim through, or the easy fixes like overused words – it’s the deep down edit. The kind that makes you wonder if this thing is really ever going to make it. But I just think it’s like sanding off the bad parts, and soon it will start to shine. Just not sure how many more layers ’til I get there. That’s the hard part. :)
Elizabeth – I know what you mean about something just not being right, even if you’re not a whiz at something. Your car story is a really good example!
When it’s time for editing, what helps me most is putting the manuscript aside for a few days. But better than that is my beta readers. What a lucky person I am to have beta readers who are “in my corner” enough to want me to keep at it (So they tell me what works :-)), but who care enough to tell me the truth – even when the truth is “This chapter is bad,” or “why in the world did you have that character do that?”
Great car story! It made me laugh because on Christmas Day I correctly diagnosed a family member’s car problem remotely when speaking to her on the phone, despite knowing next to nothing about cars. (maybe that’s the best way)
I’ve recently found it helps to get a printed version of the novel being edited (I use Lulu for this but there are of course other options) – but this is the last resort after using all the other techniques – especially the ‘time lapse’ one.
You go girl with fixing your car. That’s a helpless feeling when a car won’t run for me anyway.
Distance does make the vision clearer or is that just my eyes? Putting away your writing helps clear your mind of details and lets you look at it new for “Gut Editing”.
Unrelated: I need to work on editing my gut. :)
T
I loved how you managed to look at your car and resolve it. I’m not sure I’d have gotten as far as lifting the hood!
For me, when I’m editing, I like to print it off and read it. This gives me a new perspective. Reading it in my hands as any future reader may. It works for me, but I do get through an awful lot of paper!
For me it is what you said and especially leaving it for a bit and then reading it out loud. Every bit of it and for every draft I do. Because it is the rhythm I’m scared of losing and if I read it out loud then I know if and where it has been lost. So glad you’re focussing on editing right now!
Aisyahussein–Thanks so much for coming by and best wishes for your writing. :)
TK Richardson–I tweeted a great article last week–knowing when you’re done. Very interesting! I feel like I’m never done editing and I’ve frequently emailed my agent and editors, asking them to read an updated version of my manuscript, instead of the one I sent in. I’m sure I drive them nutty.
Sheila–Ha! Maybe that’s why we’re so good at diagnosing a car problem–it helps to be completely clueless! For some reason it always comes as a complete shock when the car doesn’t work…I just expect it to work 100% of the time. For my story, I want the same type of performance–but I have a better indication what my problem areas are, for sure.
Rebecca–I’ve found that it’s almost cheaper for me to put the book on a thumb drive and give it to the Office Max or Office Depot to print. It IS expensive..both paper and ink. But it helps sometimes. :)
Margot–You ARE lucky! I get so close to my deadlines that I feel bad asking someone to drop everything to read my stuff. My mom and my agent are my betas and they’ll definitely not beat around the bush about any problems they find. That’s because it’s time for me to turn the manuscript in!
Jan–I go hoarse with the reading, but you’re so right–it’s the best way to check for flow. If I’m tripping up over a sentence, it’s a bad sign…but it’s super-easy to fix.
Hey, Elizabeth. I’ve found this very helpful with my short stories: print out a random page by itself and just keep re-reading it. When I don’t have pages to turn, I can focus more on the words, rather than the story. And suddenly I’ll find ways to improve a page I previously had thought read just fine.
Barb Goffman
Teresa–It *is* a really helpless feeling. Can’t stand that stranded feeling when the car won’t work!
The devil is in the details, isn’t it? Sometimes a big picture look at what isn’t working can really help.
Oh, it’s still post-holidays! We can all use a little gut editing. :) Ha!
Barb–I like that! So you’re separating it from the others and making it a single unit and looking at it from that perspective. Very nice!
Going over my work with test readers. We sometimes read aloud and that really places it in a different context.
Awesome car story :-)
I use the AutoCrit Editing Wizard to help me get distance from my manuscript.
It points out areas of weakness and that makes me look seriously at that section to make sure the words are actually doing what I think they should be doing :-)
Wonderful analogy! Its true, editing is for the most part, a gut process. That is for sure true for me, and I try to not go too far against my gut feelings while I’m doing the first draft. Thanks for this, glad you got your car to work :)
Sarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)
Thanks for all the editing advice. I like the car as an analogy!
I find printing off my work (although it means a lot of paper) and the physical aspect of it helps immensely. I like to scribble red lines here and there but hopefully not too much.
A break makes a huge difference of course, otherwise it’s easy to become so immersed in the words and disappear inside them. Finding an objective mode is best, And reading aloud definitely helps with flow and rhythm.
I think having other readers is a wonderful plus. Sometimes I feel like a pest when I bother them, but my two are very understanding.
Gosh. Hm. The font change idea is interesting. I might give it a go.
It’s a pleasure to read your blog and all the comments.
Joanne G.
I’m using the Time-method, not on purpose, but because my progress is slow (there too many other things I need to do). When I read stuff I wrote a couple of months ago, I see many things that should be improved
Cold As Heaven
Alex–I’m really impressed with the test readers that y’all all have! I need to schedule my writing time better and not get so close to deadline.
Janine–I haven’t heard of that program…but I think I’ll check into it. :) Sounds like a great tool.
Sarah–Sometimes I think I try to make the editing process more cerebral than it needs to be! It’s really just a matter of eliminating what isn’t working.
A Certain Book–I think you’re very lucky to have such understanding first readers. :) One of my goals this year is to balance my manuscripts to a point where I can get reader feedback earlier in the process and not when I’m right on top of a deadline.
Thanks so much for coming by today!
Cold As Heaven–Well, you’ve got a day job that’s keeping you busy…and you’re on a plane half the time, as far as I can tell. :)
I don’t edit in my office – I’ll sit in the dining room or living room instead. Change of scenery really works.
Diane–I like the thought that even changing the room we work in can help. :)