Wendy Ogilvie Editing- Writing Lesson No5
So, I have been really busy over the last few weeks editing my first novel.
Initially I would spend two days editing, then spend another day or so on another project. A word from the now wise…that approach doesn’t work!
I would love to be one of those women who boast about their ability to multi task, whilst simultaneously writing a short story, hoovering the lounge and wiping the dog’s bum, but it’s never worked for me.
Lesson No5 = Edit as much as you can and over as short a period as possible.
The above lesson is aimed at your initial edit of your first draft. This way you can check the continuity of your story as well as general sentence structure and grammar. I found that if I left too long between edits, I would lose the storyline and have to read back another chapter before starting again.
Don’t forget, it has probably been some time since you wrote the first chapters and you won’t remember exactly what happens and when.
For my second edit, I am going to follow the advice of Mike Grant and read it backwards. This should enable me to concentrate on each sentence instead of getting absorbed into the story -Which obviously I would, as it’s excellent! 🙂
I’ll let you know how I get on with the backwards thing.
If you work a different way that you think works, let me know. I’m always keen to learn!
Wendy Ogilvie 