Q&A – Revising and Editing
Hey guys! Since I’ve started revision on my novel, Delicate Bones, I thought I’d answer some questions you guys have for me about revising and editing books. So here we go!
Q: What helps get you in the mood for revising and editing?
A: I think most authors can agree that we’d rather be enveloped in a world of our creation and writing about it than revising and editing it. It’s not the most exciting thing to devote your time to, but alas, it’s necessary. A book with no revising and editing is shallow and full of mistakes. Once you’ve got the general ideas on paper, you can really go back and add more depth and details, and you can also eliminate those paragraphs that don’t make sense or edit the ones that you used the wrong tense in accidentally (that’s one of the most common mistakes for me, actually).
So, I really do need something to get me in the mood for it. One thing I like to do is just read through my story, not searching for any mistakes or errors or things that don’t make sense, but just like a reader would, because readers aren’t generally reading a book just to stumble across those things. (And I guess that because I’m a child author, I have some sort of right to having a few errors here and there, but I don’t like that assumption that it will be flawed, so I do my best to get rid of them as thoroughly as I can.) Then, if I find something that doesn’t quite work, I can write it down and come back to it later once I understand the entire story a little bit better after rereading it.
I also like to play music as I revise and edit – or do anything, really. Even as I write this blog post, I’m listening to music. Music is a fabulous counterpart to writing because it balances out all the stress you might be feeling. I’m a huge alternative rock person, so I like to listen to Coldplay, Two Door Cinema Club, Lorde, Florence + The Machine, Atlas Genius, and The Black Keys, just to name a few. I especially love listening to more upbeat songs because it kind of counteracts with the long, tedious, often boring editing process. It just pumps me up a little bit and gets me in a bit brighter of a mood, so I’m not incredibly frustrated and bored while I revise. Of course, listening to a song that matches with the mood of the chapter is always helpful. For example, if I’m editing a sad chapter I might want to listen to a sadder, slower song, just so I can really connect with that chapter.
Q: Do you have other people help you?
A: While I was editing Wildflower Dreams, I didn’t, which is probably why some parts are really crappy. But no matter – my writing has grown now along with me. Now I do, and there’s sort of a system to it. My mother especially loves reading my books before they come out, which she didn’t get to do with Wildflower Dreams but what she seems to really be enjoying with Delicate Bones. She’ll have a little piece of paper and a pen next to her, so when she stumbles across something that doesn’t make sense grammatically or doesn’t fit the rest of the plot, she can just write down roughly what it is and what chapter it’s in, so that once she’s done I can just grab the list and go through, chapter by chapter, what needs to be edited. My really good friend and fellow writer also sends me critique in emails when I send her a few chapters at a time, which I really, really appreciate because it’s good to get advice from another writer that understands the process behind it a little more. And plus, writers are always biased, no matter how much we try not to be. Since we wrote the book, we’re always stuck in this mindset where we think that it’s absolutely flawless and brilliant, which is not always the complete case. Having another set of eyes is something that I think every writer needs, because there’s no way you can edit it on your own and still weed out all the imperfections.
Q: How long do you spend revising and editing a day?
A: I like to split up the work into small, small sections, because that way it’s not as overwhelming. I might take 30 minutes and just really go in to one chapter, or I might spend that time just editing the things that really stand out and coming back to the more minor mistakes later. Honestly, it doesn’t really matter how I spend the time as long as I get everything done eventually.
That’s all for now! I hope this answered some questions you might have, and I will talk to you later! Don’t forget that you can Tweet me any questions or comments you have @CVSutherland
- CVSUTHERLAND
