Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Editing Strain

  1. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Let’s begin the Fight
  2. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Rejection – The Ugly Word
  3. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Learning to Juggle
  4. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: To Dump or not to Dump
  5. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Keep the Faith
  6. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Finding Your Identity
  7. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Just for the love of it
  8. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: 5 Step plan for success
  9. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Planning Issue
  10. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Crossroads
  11. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Overwhelming Effect
  12. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Waiting Game
  13. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Reflection 2013
  14. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: New Year New Challenges
  15. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Am I a real Writer?
  16. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Taking The Next Step
  17. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Submission Phobia
  18. Setting Self Doubt On Fire: How To Get Ideas
  19. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Dealing with Fear
  20. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Only Guarantee
  21. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Doubts of others
  22. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Let those positives shine
  23. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: First Draft Blues
  24. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Time-wasting issue
  25. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Embrace the bad ideas
  26. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Writer or Author?
  27. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Negative Feedback; the double slap
  28. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Pat yourself on the back
  29. Setting Self Doubt On Fire: The Deflated Eureka Moment
  30. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The doomed quest for perfection
  31. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Writing Group fears
  32. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Horror Tree Crew tackle Mr Self Doubt
  33. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Read aloud challenge
  34. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Find your inner belief
  35. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: NaNoWriMo and Self-Doubt
  36. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: We are NaNoWriMo winners
  37. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: New Year’s Resolutions for Writers
  38. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The benefits of organizing
  39. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Editing Strain
  40. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Writing Group Experience
  41. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Dealing with second stage fears
  42. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Reading aloud to an audience
  43. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Importance of perseverance
  44. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Self-Doubt or Gut Feeling
  45. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Get ready for NaNoEdMo
  46. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Benefits of Writing Goals
  47. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Rejection Gets Better
  48. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Writers, take care of yourself!
  49. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: How to Boost Your Self-Confidence
  50. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Why You Should Go to a Writing Festival
  51. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Help! A Publisher has Dropped Me
  52. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Setting Self Doubt on Fire Challenge
  53. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: How to Prepare for a Book Reading Event
  54. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: It’s NaNoWriMo and NaNoEdMo Time
  55. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Help! I Didn’t Reach My NaNo Goal
  56. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Let’s Beat Self-Doubt in 2017
  57. WIHM: Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Female Horror Writer and Proud
  58. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Don’t Let Self-Doubt Make You Miss Deadlines
  59. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Hey! Where’s My Book Reading Audience
  60. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: 5 Tips on How to Ignore the Negative Voices
  61. Video Refresh: Rejection – The Ugly Word
  62. Video Refresh: Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Learning to Juggle
  63. Video Refresh: To Dump or not to Dump
  64. Video Refresh: Keep The Faith
  65. Video Refresh: Finding Your Identity
  66. Video Refresh: 5 Step plan for success
  67. Video Refresh: The Planning Issue
  68. Video Refresh: The Crossroads
  69. Video Refresh: The Overwhelming Effect
  70. Video Refresh: The Waiting Game
  71. Video Refresh: Am I A Real Writer?
  72. Video Refresh: Taking The Next Step
  73. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Let’s Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway in 2019
  74. Video Refresh: Submission Phobia
  75. Video Refresh: Dealing With Fear
  76. WIHM: Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Female Horror Author Reading Challenge
  77. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Writer or Author? Video Refresh
  78. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Beat the Fear of Self-Publishing
  79. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Do NaNoWriMo Differently This Year
  80. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: How Can Online Groups Help Writers?
  81. Setting Self-Doubt on Fire – AuthorTube – Learn How to Describe Emotion
  82. Setting Self-Doubt on Fire: How to Set Realistic Goals for NaNoWriMo

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Hi everyone! I’m back. Yes, I know it has been a long time since my last post. What have I been doing? Well, not slacking that’s for sure. I had my novel to finish writing, which I completed last week. It’s now tucked away in a box fermenting while I prepare myself for the editing challenge. We’ll come back to this point. I have also been working my way through my editing pile, and I’ve been working on my new website, which I’m hoping to launch soon, so keep an eye out for that.

So, what do I have for you today? Well, I shall return to my previous mention of the editing challenge that awaits me with my novel. Editing, as we all know, can be one of the most daunting and stressful tasks. Many rush the process while others overdo it, and it’s many of us self-doubters that tend to overdo it with the editing. However, editing can make the difference between an acceptance and rejection, so it’s important to find a happy medium.

To help you with the strain of editing, I have come up with some tips, which might help you feel less stressed about editing.

  1. Read Aloud. I previously wrote a post about taking part in the read aloud challenge. Many sources say that to help you pick up errors in your writing it helps to read it out, so you can hear how the story flows. I have done this myself and found many times where it sounds okay in my head, but not when I read it out. So even if you only do this once per story, make sure you read your work aloud.
  2. Wear your editor hat. For writers, this can be a tricky task. Even with the best intentions you can find yourself editing your work as a writer. Editing as a writer can blind you to any issues you might have with your story, such as plot holes. Be honest as honest as you would be about a story written by another. Also, ask many questions about your story. Time away from your story can help this process.
  3. Take some time away from your story. I’ve found that it is easier to wear your editor hat when you have taken some time away from your story before editing. At times when you are trying to reach a submission deadline, you won’t have time to leave your story. However, what I’ve learned, the hard way, is that it’s better to take your time with your story rather than rushing ahead with it and receiving yet another rejection.
  4. Save drafts. Saving your drafts might be obvious to some, but it is important to keep each draft stage. This is especially important to those who tend to over edit. I’ve cut things out before and realised that I shouldn’t have, but thanks to my saved drafts I was able to add the piece back into the story without any issues.
  5. Use a thesaurus. I once wrote a story, which had the word looked 45 times; this was a short story. To solve this issue, I have added a thesaurus to my editing tool list. However, make sure the word you use makes sense within the sentence.
  6. Take a break between drafts. This point ties in with point 3. As well as a break between the first draft and editing process a break between the draft stages can be beneficial. Focusing on one story for a long time can drive you crazy, so take a break, and edit another story.
  7. Keep a list of your editing process. For example, your second draft could be used to fix any plot holes, add any extra details, or take out unnecessary information. While your third draft could be used for cutting out adverbs and adjectives.
  8. Have a ‘words to cut’ list. I found a website, which listed ten words that writers should minimise or cut from their writing. It has helped me through my years of writing.
  9. Use a grammar and spell checker. You shouldn’t only rely on your word processor to check your work. I use Ginger, and Grammarly have a free version of their grammar checker. These spell and grammar checkers are great for finding those little mistakes that you miss.
  10. Remember, no one’s perfect. Sometimes you have to reach a point where you put down the red pen and let it go. You can spend forever tearing your work apart (Yes, I’m talking about you self-doubters). However, you need to remember that you are only human, and there’s nothing perfect in this world. Do your best, that’s all anyone can ask.

There you have it. Hopefully, with these little tips editing can be less of a strain for you. However, chances are you will still pull your hair out at some point, but hey, it’s all part of the process.

To end this post, here is another inspirational quote:

“Put down everything that comes into your head and then you’re a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff’s worth, without pity, and destroy most of it.” (Casual Chance, 1964) ― Colette

 

 

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3 Responses

  1. Angeline says:

    I’m in the middle of wading through edits, and I hate it. It’s such a chore. Give me the excitement of a first draft any day!

    So this is exactly the post I needed. I will definitely follow some of your suggestions (some i do already) and will definitely check out those links. Thanks for this!

  2. Nicole says:

    I’m glad it’s helped. I actually didn’t realise I had so many tips until I wrote this post. 🙂