Edit Fest – Things that Surprise Me

I make a point of not editing a novel manuscript until I’ve let it sit for at least three months, so I can approach it with a fresh perspective. I have this bare bones impression of the story that sticks with me, etched into my brain, but the rest fades from my thoughts once written out. When I get back to the story, it never reads like I remember it. This isn’t a bad thing though. Doubt always seeps in during those months away from it – that whole notion that the story can’t be all that great. Returning to the actual words written always surprises me, and usually in at least a somewhat positive way. I can’t imagine how I came up with certain unusual turns of phrases and quirky descriptions that seem original but fitting.

The feeling doesn’t last. I trudge my way through my editing, chastising myself for the little mistakes here and there and enjoying the things that seem to work, but once I’m done everything fades again. I think it’s pretty amazing. I have scenes that stuck with me in vivid detail for the better part of a decade because I didn’t have the opportunity to write them down, but the moment I did, I lost all but their basic essence, and the only way to get them back is by reading what I’ve written.

I’m wondering if this is common to many writers or something specific to me. It’s like I clear out my brain, wiping the slate mostly clean except for that faint chalk shadow. Call me a space cadet (in reference to a writer meme that happens to be floating around right now) but I think I have to do this to empty my head – otherwise things get too cluttered.

Anyway back to editing…