What's your editing process? What do you focus on?

I'm very interested in editing and how authors do it.

What do you focus on?
Do you have any special techniques or tools?
How many rounds do you go through, how do you know it's ready?

Here's my process:
1) I write on an old AlphaSmart(distraction free), then transfer to my laptop when a chapter is done.
2) On my laptop I read through and edit, usually reading out loud. Focusing more on spelling and grammer
3) The next day, I do it again! Focusing more on readability, smoothness ect
4) Then I read out loud an additional time. I actually recently got a google doc add on that reads it out loud for me, this helps catch mistakes that my brain autocorrected while reading before. Also helps fix awkward wording.
5) Before posting I look over it on the actual website, very quickly. Just to make sure it copy and pasted correctly.
6) Then post

In general while editing I really focus on cutting useless language. To me: "Kill your darlings" is the main mantra in the editing process.

Edit: oh and after all that I still fuck up and miss stuff sometimes

SouthernMaiden said:

I'm very interested in editing and how authors do it.

What do you focus on?
Do you have any special techniques or tools?
How many rounds do you go through, how do you know it's ready?

Here's my process:
1) I write on an old AlphaSmart(distraction free), then transfer to my laptop when a chapter is done.
2) On my laptop I read through and edit, usually reading out loud. Focusing more on spelling and grammer
3) The next day, I do it again! Focusing more on readability, smoothness ect
4) Then I read out loud an additional time. I actually recently got a google doc add on that reads it out loud for me, this helps catch mistakes that my brain autocorrected while reading before. Also helps fix awkward wording.
5) Before posting I look over it on the actual website, very quickly. Just to make sure it copy and pasted correctly.
6) Then post

In general while editing I really focus on cutting useless language. To me: "Kill your darlings" is the main mantra in the editing process.

Edit: oh and after all that I still fuck up and miss stuff sometimes

Click to expand...

Mine's got a three-stage editing process.

First stage: Once I finished an entire manuscript--not a chapter--I'll have AI check my spelling and grammar errors.

Second stage: After first stage, I review if the scene arrangements fit my vision for the narration.

Third stage: Final edits to search for possible miss outs from 1st and 2nd stage.

Do take note: I'm also editing my grammar and spelling as I write along, so it will be minimal when I have AI check my manuscript during the first stage.

But yeah, even with all of these, I still tend to miss on some details.

Editing? I barely know her!

Hans.Trondheim said:

Mine's got a three-stage editing process.

First stage: Once I finished an entire manuscript--not a chapter--I'll have AI check my spelling and grammar errors.

Second stage: After first stage, I review if the scene arrangements fit my vision for the narration.

Third stage: Final edits to search for possible miss outs from 1st and 2nd stage.

But yeah, even with all of these, I still tend to miss on some details.

Click to expand...

Why use AI over just normal built in spell checks?

Also, do you use an outline? I find the 2nd stage pretty interesting

SouthernMaiden said:

Why use AI over just normal built in spell checks?

Also, do you use an outline? I find the 2nd stage pretty interesting

Click to expand...

English is not my native language, even as I'm a Filipino. Though I'm a former language and reading teacher, I taught Filipino language in schools, not English. I don't trust MS Word spell checker, see? And even when I use AI, I still check if the corrections make sense.

For example, AI flags a sentence having a problem. I then check and/or rearrange words so the flag disappears. If the part is altered too much, only then will I ignore AI suggestions.

And yes, I'm a planner, so I defintely use an outline. Still, I write my manuscript with everything, and then recheck if my scene arrangements are as good as the outline made it seem to be.

Envylope said:

Editing? I barely know her!

Click to expand...

This joke could use a rewrite ?

SouthernMaiden said:

This joke could use a rewrite ?

Click to expand...

No.

You do it by chapter then?

I do it by batch. I'll write about 30 chapters worth of content, roughly a book's worth of material before I go back and do my first pass of editing.

First pass is me checking things over, making sure I didn't make any major mistakes before pressing on.

I'll then work on the next 30 chapters.

When the next 30 chapters are done, I'll once again pass over the first 30 chapters, though, this time it's more of a rewrite as I realign it with what I wrote.

Do another pass over the first 30 chapters to clean up mistakes here and there, like missing letters, weird sentences and all.

Do a final pass over the first 30 chapters which is more of me reading it to see if it feels right before moving on. Typically, by this point, the first 30 chapters are solid and good for publishing.

Rinse and repeat, ad infinitum, or whatever.

It's nice for keeping arcs and the story together, but... yeah, whenever I sit down and do it, its hell.

FleecedSheep said:

You do it by chapter then?

I do it by batch. I'll write about 30 chapters worth of content, roughly a book's worth of material before I go back and do my first pass of editing.

First pass is me checking things over, making sure I didn't make any major mistakes before pressing on.

I'll then work on the next 30 chapters.

When the next 30 chapters are done, I'll once again pass over the first 30 chapters, though, this time it's more of a rewrite as I realign it with what I wrote.

Do another pass over the first 30 chapters to clean up mistakes here and there, like missing letters, weird sentences and all.

Do a final pass over the first 30 chapters which is more of me reading it to see if it feels right before moving on. Typically, by this point, the first 30 chapters are solid and good for publishing.

Rinse and repeat, ad infinitum, or whatever.

It's nice for keeping arcs and the story together, but... yeah, whenever I sit down and do it, its hell.

Click to expand...

I have an outline, and write week by week. Probably a bad strategy in hindsight, but my process takes so long and my life is busy in other ways I cant write ahead enough and maintain 1 chapter a week. ?

Writing a whole batch sounds like the way to do it, pretty painful to do 30 at once though. You must write a lot at once right? Whats your rate?

Basically i think my problem is that im a slow bitch ?

I rarely edit my chapters because I write narratives by visualizing the scenes. Mainstream authors might feel uncomfortable when reading my chapters, especially because my chapters often feature repetitive scenes (e.g., arrows repeatedly making the same sound), and AI can be finicky about repetition.

But for me, it's not about repetition; it's about narrative function. What's wrong with repeatedly shooting an arrow and making similar onomatopoeic sounds? In reality, the same attack pattern is very likely to occur. It might be boring to read, but I prefer a realistic and visual narrative over mere aesthetics.

What do I do? I write fast and a little feral. Not too sloppy, and not careless, just... hungry. Always hungry. I'll be chasing momentum rather than that fine polish; if it's shit, I ain't going to be buffering it. So I let scenes exist ugly only if they're still breathing, because you know why? Dead but clean sequences are worse than roughened up but still breathing prose. And if anyone interrupts to tell me I'm doing it wrong, they discover I bite.

After all that review, that's when the editing starts. I'll get real suspicious of everything I write, including the parts I genuinely like. I'll probably save those parts in another document for a concept in another chapter or story, but if it is deadweight in the current story, I ain't gonna put in the effort to lift it.

Now, what specifically am I hunting down? Well, I'll read to see if the scene still exists. Not that if it's good or pretty, Just... well, does this still function as a scene with pressure, orientation, and intent? If it doesn't, I don't do a simple tweak. Nah, I restructure it. Brutally. If it isn't breathing right when I read it out loud, then I treat the damn thing like I'm allergic to it and prune the discord.

That ain't all to the hunt. I got to discover moments where I, as a reader, might get lost on who's where doing what. Like, I'll grab a stapler and start punching those clips into bodies in any free space I find suitable; I'll fix who is where, who is moving, and then get back to the why. Also, this is where I delete a lot of fluffy language that felt cool in my head but didn't tell me a damn thing about what's going on. Yeah, I still do that, but I'll also be transparent about it in the second half, after a semi-colon, on what I'm trying to convey.

So, yes, I strip out and toss into another bin any sentences that sound clever but don't sound coherent. That also includes me absolutely deleting lines I love, but I will give no flips about it if it smells like bullshit. Not enough mercy in me over a few fancy strung-up words. Hell, I might even mutter about it while doing the cleanup.

Speaking of things I mutter about a lot, I talk about adverbs and strong verbs aplenty too. I'll cut out adverbs and swoop in with those strong verbs as replacements. I'll even fuse sentences together because sometimes keeping the same train thought flowing is a lot better than being grammatically punctual on where to conclude. Especially if it reduces emotional explanations because I feel like every action requires implications.

Oh, yeah, reading it out loud is a given, but guess what? I also force AI to read my shit because I'm an uncaring God over what I create and I feel like torturing the itty-bitty bytes. But if what I hear hurts, and I mean anything that makes me flinch, that gets rewritten. Again, the rhythm matters to me more than grammatical rules, and I'll happily break a rule if the sentence lands.

Actually, since I am on this aggressive topic, I sometimes... yeah, I do. I do imagine myself as someone tired, distracted, and slightly annoyed reading over the chapter. If it survives me being cranked up a notch, I'll post it... maybe. If not, I'm setting that back down on the cutting board and reaching back for my butcher knives.

Honestly though, I accept that perfection is unreal. I'll accept that missing a comma doesn't ruin the scene, that my sentences ran on for far too long but get's that message across, and that yelling finished beats me being haunted by revision hell. It's good to kick it out of the nest and see if the birdy can fly.

What if it falls? Guess what.

That's Nature.

Eldoria said:

I rarely edit my chapters because I write narratives by visualizing the scenes. Mainstream authors might feel uncomfortable when reading my chapters, especially because my chapters often feature repetitive scenes (e.g., arrows repeatedly making the same sound), and AI can be finicky about repetition.

But for me, it's not about repetition; it's about narrative function. What's wrong with repeatedly shooting an arrow and making similar onomatopoeic sounds? In reality, the same attack pattern is very likely to occur. It might be boring to read, but I prefer a realistic and visual narrative over mere aesthetics.

Click to expand...

I don't think visualizing the scenes is necessarily unusual. Is there any other way to do it? And whats the role of AI in your process?

SouthernMaiden said:

I'm very interested in editing and how authors do it.

What do you focus on?
Do you have any special techniques or tools?
How many rounds do you go through, how do you know it's ready?

Here's my process:
1) I write on an old AlphaSmart(distraction free), then transfer to my laptop when a chapter is done.
2) On my laptop I read through and edit, usually reading out loud. Focusing more on spelling and grammer
3) The next day, I do it again! Focusing more on readability, smoothness ect
4) Then I read out loud an additional time. I actually recently got a google doc add on that reads it out loud for me, this helps catch mistakes that my brain autocorrected while reading before. Also helps fix awkward wording.
5) Before posting I look over it on the actual website, very quickly. Just to make sure it copy and pasted correctly.
6) Then post

In general while editing I really focus on cutting useless language. To me: "Kill your darlings" is the main mantra in the editing process.

Edit: oh and after all that I still fuck up and miss stuff sometimes

Click to expand...

First I write the important stuff/first draft. Then I go through look where it feels hollow or too dense and add descriptions to the hollow, and action to the dense. Then I listen to the text with text to speech a few times adding, fixing, and generally making my language more clear. Then I look if there are things that might need to be cut. I listen to it again, and if I don’t catch any mistakes or areas that need improving I look at it with grammarly and cautiously review and implement its suggestions, so long as I agree with them.

L1aei said:

What do I do? I write fast and a little feral. Not too sloppy, and not careless, just... hungry. Always hungry. I'll be chasing momentum rather than that fine polish; if it's shit, I ain't going to be buffering it. So I let scenes exist ugly only if they're still breathing, because you know why? Dead but clean sequences are worse th

Click to expand...

I try and do this, just write, don't edit. Fix it later. But im still a slow bitch

Saving stuff you like, but not where it is, so you can bring it back later if you want is a good idea. Ive tossed some absolute banger sentences into the void. Should have saved them elsewhere, just in case.?‍

Hans.Trondheim said:

Mine's got a three-stage editing process.

First stage: Once I finished an entire manuscript--not a chapter--I'll have AI check my spelling and grammar errors.

Second stage: After first stage, I review if the scene arrangements fit my vision for the narration.

Third stage: Final edits to search for possible miss outs from 1st and 2nd stage.

Do take note: I'm also editing my grammar and spelling as I write along, so it will be minimal when I have AI check my manuscript during the first stage.

But yeah, even with all of these, I still tend to miss on some details.

Click to expand...

This is essentially my process but your first stage is my final stage.

SouthernMaiden said:

I don't think visualizing the scenes is necessarily unusual. Is there any other way to do it? And whats the role of AI in your process?

Click to expand...

AI is generally understood to be a beta reader. But its suggestions are often annoying: please reduce the repetition of this and that without considering the context and narrative function. I tend to ignore it.

Perhaps this is also part of the editing process... adjusting for mobile size. Comparing the presentation of fiction on PC and mobile, I tend to keep paragraphs short, 1-3 sentences per paragraph, to accommodate mobile size.

ElijahRyne said:

Then I listen to the text with text to speech a few times adding, fixing, and generally making my language more clear

Click to expand...

Text to speech is a godsend. I recently started using it too. Really helps clear up the language

SouthernMaiden said:

I try and do this, just write, don't edit. Fix it later. But im still a slow bitch

Saving stuff you like, but not where it is, so you can bring it back later if you want is a good idea. Ive tossed some absolute banger sentences into the void. Should have saved them elsewhere, just in case.?‍

Click to expand...

Yeah, save them like they are sticky notes.

SouthernMaiden said:

Text to speech is a godsend. I recently started using it too. Really helps clear up the language

Click to expand...

It also makes endurance reading significantly easier. At least for me.

Eldoria said:

AI is generally understood to be a beta reader. But its suggestions are often annoying: please reduce the repetition of this and that without considering the context and narrative function. I tend to ignore it.

Click to expand...

I see! Btw, i read your first chapter of vol 1 of blood rose princess. Really like it. I did notice something that could be a tiny mistake(might not be, could be a style thing), would it annoy you to get corrections or suggestions in the comments? Honestly well meaning, not trying to be rude or like a smart ass

ElijahRyne said:

It also makes endurance reading significantly easier. At least for me.

Click to expand...

Whats endurance reading? Just less mental strain