Drawing from the Well
Queries Sent: 1
Total Queries: 8
Scenes Arranged: 2
Total Scenes: 216
Apparently I missed a query recently in my count because I was surprised to find it at 8 this morning. I only got a little writing done yesterday, but I was setting up a new tracking file for Book 2. I rebuilt the file I used from Book 1 with new code and approach and I think I like it better. Now, 216 scenes is creepy but that number will change today.
Filling the Well
That Hideous Strength: 89%
Elegy: Page 41 of 89
Nothing new here. I’m trying to chew through the explosion of content on my YouTube playlist. Maybe today?
Polishing the Well
Our son won an award last night! We are so proud of him for winning the American History Award for his school. This is for students who show outstanding interest and achievement in American history. This was coupled with many community awards all for which the recipients and their guests were treated to a banquet. It was wonderful. So proud!
Well Chat
What’s the Difference?
This is a big question for new writers especially if you follow established authors on social media. They tend to talk about the various stages of writing as they progress through them. Drafting, Revising, Copy Editing, Line Editing, etc. It can all get confusing if you don’t know the lingo.
For me, the biggest question has been and continues to be what the difference is between copy and line edits. It’s to the point that no matter how many times I look it up, I have to look it up again if I’m going to talk about it. I have never divided things in this way so that is probably part of the problem.
And keep that in mind, folks. You DO NOT have to follow someone else’s formula to write a successful, compelling novel; you only have to follow the process that works best for you.
Now, after that disclaimer, let’s dive into others’ processes.
This is a good article on this subject. What it says is that copy edits focus primarily on internal consistency and proofreading whereas line edits are concerned with a lot more: diction, sentence length, redundancies, tightening, ambiguity, tone, and pacing. I always thought line edits were the easy ones!
It can help in telling the difference (if you need to) by considering that copy edits are concerned with the overall copy of the draft and issues therein while line edits are focused on the line-by-line excellence of the writing.
Both of these types of edits are important. It would be a tragedy to confuse a character’s hair color halfway through the novel or even their gender; that’s copy editing. It would then be an equal tragedy to say the same thing three different ways but say them in slightly different ways. Redundancies slow pacing and create a slog in your book. That’s what line editing is for.
Now, if you’re like me, all this is going to go in one eye and out the other…
And there’s the strangled metaphor for the day. Have a great day!
May the tide carry you to safer shores.
BSG