Week 37 – The end of the (editing) affair – part 1.

Yes, I have finally finished the first draft – with a whole day to spare!  It’s taken a lot of self-doubt and significant cake-eating but now it’s done I’m feeling a sense of profound relief.  There were moments when I thought about chucking the whole thing in the bin, and although I still have a lot of work to do, it feels really good to get the first revisions under my belt.

The problem with editing is the amount of issues it can raise that you weren’t expecting.  For me, there are now several new  decisions I need to make about the structure:

1. Do I have too many POV (point of view, for non-writers) characters/do I need to change the balance of time spent with each?

2. Is it set in the right timeframe/does the timeframe need to be so explicit?  The book is structured around a specific year, and that was a key part of my planning, but as you may recall I decided to strip a lot of this out.  So, if the elements defining that year disappear, can I be more flexible?  Do I have to be completely linear?  Can I miss some months out or have more than one chapter covering a single period of time?  If so, will I need an epilogue or should it be treated as a full chapter?

3. Do the characters change too much/not enough/are they too superficial?  Are their relationships developing realistically?

I am glad I know my personal editing process is a cumulative thing; if I thought that an edit would leave me with a polished, perfect piece of work, I’d be despondent instead of excited now – so for anyone facing this part of their work, don’t worry if it’s not completed in one sitting!

I need time to consider where to go with these issues, and am planning to pick up the story in a few weeks.  That also gives me time to do some other work, write and submit some poetry and short stories, and review my portfolio to bring it up to date.    I must remember that I rushed back to the story too quickly last time and it wasn’t beneficial.  I should print off that part of my earlier blog and stick it on the wall so I can’t forget…

In other news – I went to the poetry reading on Friday, which wasn’t at all what I expected.  It wasn’t an open mike event, but was a meeting of a local poetry group, that was opened up due to an external performer being invited.  The group members did read though, and some of the work was really entertaining.   It was interesting to hear so many different styles.

Although I didn’t read, I did share two pieces with the invited poet, and the feedback I got was really positive and encouraging.  The group is too far away for me to join, but as the meeting was very friendly, positive and ‘safe’ (ie no hecklers!), I am hoping to attend any future open mike nights, and I’ve been in touch with the organiser who is going to put me on their distribution list.

I love weeks when I feel everything is coming together; there are few of them but this has been a gem, really.  I hope you’ve all found something that gives you a great big writing hug this week too.

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂