The editor's mind

Yesterday I finished typing up my edits to Panthera : Death Song, and it's got me thinking about the process I use to edit my books.

These days, a lot of "editing" gets done before I start to write the book, in the form of working out a detailed chapter plan before I start.  This means that I don't head off down blind alleys while I'm writing the story.  But that first draft still needs a lot of editing before it becomes a polished, finished product.

Some writers write sections then go back and perfect them before moving onto the next chunk of story. I don't work that way.  I produce the whole of my first draft straight through.  I write longhand, in notebooks while I'm out in cafés.  That morning or afternoon's work is then taken home and typed up, and an edit of the printed text is done before I write the next section longhand.  Printing out what I've already done allows me to see much more clearly what works and what doesn't.  I print this copy out on the back of paper I've already used.  It's a signal to me that my work isn't finished.  Psychologically it doesn't matter if I change things again, because this was always only a first draft.

I then read through the whole of the typed-up story in as big chunks as I can manage in one session.  This gives me a feel for the flow of the story, and hopefully allows me to spot any glaring continuity errors.  Those edits get typed up, and only then is the work printed out on fresh clean new paper.  Psychologically that signals to me that I'm getting towards the end of the editing process.

Then the most gruelling part of the process starts. I sit down with the whole file, and read it out aloud, again in as big chunks as I can manage.  Reading aloud picks up the repeated words I miss silently reading, and shows me where my narrative falters.

When I've done any edits needed the book either goes off for submission somewhere, or if I'm self-publishing it goes to Pentangle Press's copy editor, Carol Westron, for her eagle eye to spot what I've missed.  When she's returned the manuscript to me with any edits needed, I do these, then order a proof copy of the printed book for a final read-through

This process sounds arduous, and it is, but I'm determined to make my work as good as it can be before it goes out into the world, and this is the process that works for me.