Editing Revisited

When I suggested in my last post that my novel would probably take as long to edit as the first draft did to write, I wasn’t being entirely serious. Many a true word...

I had some plot problems to fix (changed my mind half way through), which seemed to take for ever to sort out. Every small change I made in the editing process had, of course, knock-on effects, and there were times when I felt like going back to the beginning and starting again from scratch!

However, the last detailed edit (with occasional reference to the trusty Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors) is complete and the manuscript is now in the hands of the Romantic Novelists’ Association. The administrator of the New Writers’ Scheme has received it and will send it on to an appropriate reader.

The unexpected length of time I’ve spent on editing has set me thinking on how time should be allocated to the different aspects of writing: research, drafting and editing. I have a well-published writing friend who does no editing once she finishes her manuscript. She starts her work by reading what she has written the previous day, edits if necessary, then continues to write.

Another colleague writes furiously from the beginning and doesn’t stop till she types ‘The End’. Only then does she start revising her text and editing. She admits that her edits take a long time, but she prefers to maintain the flow of her first draft without interruption.

My own approach is a mixture of the two. I do edit as I go along – correcting typos, redrafting a scene, occasionally rereading what I’ve written the day before. But I always do the major edit once the first draft is finished.

The important factor is to do what suits you best. And, as I found out in my latest piece of work, that can vary from one manuscript to another!