• Home
  • Blog
  • News
  • Events
  • About the Author
  • About the Book
  • Bookstore
  • Reviews
  • Press/Media
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Blog
  • News
  • Events
  • About the Author
  • About the Book
  • Bookstore
  • Reviews
  • Press/Media
  • Contact
D.R. Ranshaw

D.R. RANSHAW

The Editing Song

10/21/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
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.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    D.R. Ranshaw's Blog

    Copyright 2015-2025. All rights reserved.
    ​
    Author of The Annals of Arrinor series.  Lover of great literature, fine wine, and chocolate. Not necessarily in that order.

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly