For the millions/handful of people who have (a) read my first novel, Gryphon’s Heir, and (b) are waiting impatiently for the sequel, Gryphon’s Awakening… I have a confession to make: I wasn’t working on it... at all… throughout August and September; mainly because I’ve been working my way through one of life’s major transitions (i.e. retirement) and I’m not really good with change at the best of times. Or worst of times. Or mixed times. Or any time, really, come to that.
However, all is not lost. Far from it, in fact. As I have started building a new rhythm for my life, I knew I needed to get back into the old writing saddle. For one thing, not writing was starting to bug me. (Salman Rushdie provided what I think is the best metaphor for this situation: he says that when he’s away from his current Work In Progress --- WIP --- the story “sulks.” And I can attest that the contention is absolutely true.) So, after being away from the story for a couple of months --- or any appreciable length of time, really --- I find that the best way to get back into it is by doing an edit of the current draft. Which I started to do this month. And which is going quite well, thanks very much.
I happen to feel it’s a relatively painless way to get back into the rhythm of the tale; you get to reacquaint yourself with the characters and what they were doing (including all sorts of little nooks and cranny type details you may have forgotten in the meantime), without having to throw yourself into the deep end as far as creativity goes… an especially forgiving approach if you’re a pantser, but which works well even if you’re a plotter.
The weird thing about this is that so many people in the writing community would, I think, shy away from this, for one very simple reason: the prospect of editing seems to either fill them with fear and loathing, or send them into a full-blown panic attack. And I’m not sure why this should be the case. I really don’t mind editing. In fact, here’s today’s True Confession: I actually enjoy editing, for all the reasons I listed above… and probably more, besides. It’s actually gotten to the point where I would find it difficult to present an interested party with a pile ‘o paper and be able to confidently say, “this is the first/second/ third/thirty-sixth draft.” Because, to employ a metaphor I created for the writing process, writers are miners (you can read that post here if you’re interested), and working in the mine doesn’t always, automatically mean heading off to the mine face and working at the cutting edge of the plot; nope, it frequently means going back to clear up that little rockfall which occurred 50 pages ago, or shoring up the tunnel in Access Corridor B, or digging a side tunnel, or pumping out water (or noxious gases) accumulating in the deeper levels.
(By the way, you need to keep in mind, Constant Reader, that editing and proofreading are not the same thing, at all. Which doesn’t mean you can’t do them both at the same time, you just need to be aware they employ two different focuses and skill-sets. What’s the difference, you ask? Well, editing is about content. Proofreading is about mechanics. Editing means looking for plot holes, parts that need condensing, parts that require expansion. Proofreading is about spelling and grammar and punctuation and lions and tigers and bears, oh my!)
So I love to edit. Which brings me (ta da!) to The Editing Song, which I composed, rather in a Mr. Rogers-ish mood, Just For You. Well, not really. Was simply feeling a bit puckish, and this is the result.
Quick bit of background: a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away i.e. the 1970s, a British glam rock group called T. Rex came out with a song called, I Love To Boogie. Rather a catchy little tune, actually. (More confessions… I first heard it when watching the film Billy Elliott.) If you don’t know the song, you should give it a listen on YouTube… then my lyrics will make more sense.
Herewith, then, for your entertainment and edification, I present…
The Editing Song
By D.R. Ranshaw (with sincerest apologies to T. Rex)
We love to edit, we love to edit
Cursory edit, microscopic edit
We love to edit on a Saturday night!
I got a razor-sharp pen all ready to roll
Colour o’ blood ‘cause deletin’s my goal
Murder your darlin’s the great man said
Just don’t let it go to your puffed-up head
We love to edit, we love to edit on a Saturday night!
I said we love to edit, we love to edit
Close-up edit, cursory edit
We love to edit on a Saturday night!
Just add a bit here, then you scrap a lot there
Cry as your hero is killed by a bear
With your word count soarin’ cut your favourite chat
Keepin’ each phrase is not where it’s at
I love to edit, yes I love to edit on a Saturday night
I said I love to edit, I love to edit
Cursory edit, I love to edit
I love to edit on a Saturday night!
I love to edit, I love to edit
Cursory edit, I love to edit
I love to edit on a Saturday night!
Hmm. Never mind story-writing, I think I’ve got a future in the song-writing business.
Well, maybe not.
But it was fun writing a song.
However, all is not lost. Far from it, in fact. As I have started building a new rhythm for my life, I knew I needed to get back into the old writing saddle. For one thing, not writing was starting to bug me. (Salman Rushdie provided what I think is the best metaphor for this situation: he says that when he’s away from his current Work In Progress --- WIP --- the story “sulks.” And I can attest that the contention is absolutely true.) So, after being away from the story for a couple of months --- or any appreciable length of time, really --- I find that the best way to get back into it is by doing an edit of the current draft. Which I started to do this month. And which is going quite well, thanks very much.
I happen to feel it’s a relatively painless way to get back into the rhythm of the tale; you get to reacquaint yourself with the characters and what they were doing (including all sorts of little nooks and cranny type details you may have forgotten in the meantime), without having to throw yourself into the deep end as far as creativity goes… an especially forgiving approach if you’re a pantser, but which works well even if you’re a plotter.
The weird thing about this is that so many people in the writing community would, I think, shy away from this, for one very simple reason: the prospect of editing seems to either fill them with fear and loathing, or send them into a full-blown panic attack. And I’m not sure why this should be the case. I really don’t mind editing. In fact, here’s today’s True Confession: I actually enjoy editing, for all the reasons I listed above… and probably more, besides. It’s actually gotten to the point where I would find it difficult to present an interested party with a pile ‘o paper and be able to confidently say, “this is the first/second/ third/thirty-sixth draft.” Because, to employ a metaphor I created for the writing process, writers are miners (you can read that post here if you’re interested), and working in the mine doesn’t always, automatically mean heading off to the mine face and working at the cutting edge of the plot; nope, it frequently means going back to clear up that little rockfall which occurred 50 pages ago, or shoring up the tunnel in Access Corridor B, or digging a side tunnel, or pumping out water (or noxious gases) accumulating in the deeper levels.
(By the way, you need to keep in mind, Constant Reader, that editing and proofreading are not the same thing, at all. Which doesn’t mean you can’t do them both at the same time, you just need to be aware they employ two different focuses and skill-sets. What’s the difference, you ask? Well, editing is about content. Proofreading is about mechanics. Editing means looking for plot holes, parts that need condensing, parts that require expansion. Proofreading is about spelling and grammar and punctuation and lions and tigers and bears, oh my!)
So I love to edit. Which brings me (ta da!) to The Editing Song, which I composed, rather in a Mr. Rogers-ish mood, Just For You. Well, not really. Was simply feeling a bit puckish, and this is the result.
Quick bit of background: a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away i.e. the 1970s, a British glam rock group called T. Rex came out with a song called, I Love To Boogie. Rather a catchy little tune, actually. (More confessions… I first heard it when watching the film Billy Elliott.) If you don’t know the song, you should give it a listen on YouTube… then my lyrics will make more sense.
Herewith, then, for your entertainment and edification, I present…
The Editing Song
By D.R. Ranshaw (with sincerest apologies to T. Rex)
We love to edit, we love to edit
Cursory edit, microscopic edit
We love to edit on a Saturday night!
I got a razor-sharp pen all ready to roll
Colour o’ blood ‘cause deletin’s my goal
Murder your darlin’s the great man said
Just don’t let it go to your puffed-up head
We love to edit, we love to edit on a Saturday night!
I said we love to edit, we love to edit
Close-up edit, cursory edit
We love to edit on a Saturday night!
Just add a bit here, then you scrap a lot there
Cry as your hero is killed by a bear
With your word count soarin’ cut your favourite chat
Keepin’ each phrase is not where it’s at
I love to edit, yes I love to edit on a Saturday night
I said I love to edit, I love to edit
Cursory edit, I love to edit
I love to edit on a Saturday night!
I love to edit, I love to edit
Cursory edit, I love to edit
I love to edit on a Saturday night!
Hmm. Never mind story-writing, I think I’ve got a future in the song-writing business.
Well, maybe not.
But it was fun writing a song.
RSS Feed