Hi guys, My name is Bryce and since i joined (earlier today) i have found this forum extremely fun and knowledgeable . I have a few questions about editing a novel. I am the kind of person who edits nearly 100% as i go along because i dread getting to the end of my story, writing my last sentence, and going "welp, im about half way to publication!" Thats scary for me. When i finish, i want to be almost done with my story. I know i cant be 100% done at that point, but im hoping at least 80% done with the editing process. I do hope to hire an editor to do touch ups and such, but i don't want to pay out the wazoo for it either, so im going to attempt to do most of it myself. but... then i thought: "Hmm, maybe i can find a partner. Somebody who will read my story, chapter by chapter, as i go along. They can give me tips and point out my mistakes and poorly worded sentences. I thought i may find somebody like that on this site, but i have a few self-quarrels with the idea: 1) is it safe? plagiarism is very prominent, sadly. 2) if i do decide to do it, i want it to be both ways. I would find somebody who'll let me revise their story while they revise mine. 3) what if we move at different paces? I am a freshmen in high school, i work, i have schoolwork, and i do competitive gymnastics. My true passion, however, is writing. I do it in all my free time, but even then, free time is sparse. Somedays i write no words, some days i write several hundred, but either way my process is slow, especially when you include the fact that i revise my story as i write. Your thoughts on this?
Feel free to edit as you go. You'll find some people here who say you need to charge through to the end of your first draft before you start editing, in the interests of getting your whole story on paper as quickly as possible, but you'll also find some (like me) who edit as they go. I don't recommend that you hire an editor to complete your work. That's your job. When you present a manuscript to a publisher or an agent, it should be as perfect as you can possibly make it. It should leave your hands as a finished piece of work. There are some other threads on this forum where you'll read advice that says hiring an editor is giving someone else a chance to rip you off. You're a high school freshman. You've got a lot of time. Read good books, and read lots of them, and read like a writer - study how the writers accomplish what they do. That's the best way to learn. But whatever you do, keep writing!
i definately know that i need to self edit, and i do. I try to write with as much accuracy as possible, and i am mostly sucessful at it. I was more referring to character and plot development. If you have somebody who reads your work, gives you input and their feelings on it, i think it could help better reach an audience as a whole. I believe strongly that somebody, whether you pay them or not, should read your work before you go to have it published. The wy i see my characters, and the way others see my characters may be two very different things. Getting a perspective other than your own is always a good ting to do in my opinion. thanks for the advice minstrel and jowettc, i relly love being able to ask about writing on this forum. I think it well help alot as i continue writing.
Self-editing is important, but at the same time, you don't want to be so self-critical that you can't move forward because you don't think a certain scene is written perfectly. But big things -- if there's a glaring plothole, or if a character's personality contradicts itself in a bad way -- you need to fix before moving forward, so that the rip won't keep getting bigger.
paying an editor for any reason is almost certainly pouring money down the drain, since the odds are heavily against you ever making it back on the book... no matter how good the editor may be, it's still no guarantee the book will ever be taken on by a paying publisher, or make you enough money to cover what you spent on editing... as for having another amateur edit it for you, or give you advice on how it should be written, that would most likely be a case of the blind leading the blind... same goes for you doing it for someone else... do what others above have advised and learn to edit your own work, as all the writers whose books you see on the bestseller lists had to do, when they started out... and don't be in such a hurry... you're young enough to have plenty of time to hone your skills and perfect your craft, before sending your babies out into the cold, cruel publishing world... meanwhile, you can post excerpts here in the workshop area, to get feedback on the quality of your writing...
I was going to say there are sites (including this one) where you can get feedback on your writing. And, as you get to know folks in the writing communities, you may find another writer (or writers) who would be willing to act as betas for you. But finding a beta who is compatible and reliable takes time and patience. Oh, and don't worry about the edit as you go - I'm another one who does that as well. As long as it seems to be working for you, well, then it's working.
