I knew it had been a while, but I honestly thought it had been longer than five weeks. That’s totally unacceptable for me, but at least it’s not as bad as I feared. Before we get into the review of how I edit with Editing Path Part 1, let me just apologize for the effective radio silence over the last month or longer. I haven’t posted a blog, mailed a newsletter, or even posted on social media in a while (I haven’t even pulled up Facebook at all). Life has been very busy with the event industry. Between weddings, events, and catering, I’ve been doing my level best to keep my head above water. That did mean leaving many writing-related activities (including writing) by the wayside. All this to say that I’m sorry I have been absent and without notice for a while and I seek to be more consistent in coming back to it.
Drawing from the Well
I made a little progress over the intervening weeks in the Red Edit (which we’ll get to). Granted, most of that was around the time of the last blog or this one as the rest has felt like a chaotic pressure cooker. Still, a step forward is still a step forward. This edit has been much more intensive just because of the scope of the notes I took during the Brown Edit (again, see below). I let every thought I had land on the page which has turned into a lot of work for me. It’s coming along and I’m happy with the refinements thus far. There’s still a LONG way to go.
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Filling the Well
I may have struggled with writing, but at least I (barely) kept up with my reading. I’m up to 33 books read this year now. Since the last blog, I’ve read:
22. The Loop by Jacob Ward
23. The Hum and the Shiver by Alex Bledsoe
24. Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson
25. Learning at Speed by Nelson Sivalingam
26. Like a River Glorious by Rae Carson
27. The Art of Subtext by Charles Baxter
28. Into the Bright Unknown by Rae Carson
29. Intentional Leadership by Rose M. Patten
30. The #ArtOfTwitter by Daniel Parsons
31. Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch
32. Irresistible by Josh Bersin
33. Ice Like Fire by Sara Raasch
Yeah, it’s been a lot. The fantasy series I’ve read (24, 26, 28 and 31, 33) have been great and the non-fiction reads (22, 25, 27, 29, 30, 32) have been informative and helpful to varying degrees. Rae Carson’s series surprised me because I don’t typically like historical fantasy but this was great and held me through the whole thing. Right now, I’m finishing Sara Raasch’s series which is also great. Beyond that, I’m still working through Wizard’s First Rule and The Anatomy of Story diagramming. Lots to read and lots more to come, but it’s all good here.
#33/105 for #ProjectBookworm2023
Yes, I’m finally watching The Expanse. I’m only on Season 2 but it just keeps getting better. I’ve heard plenty of things about the series beyond this, but I’m excited to see where it goes.
Well Chat
My editing process is long. I look at a lot of different aspects of what lands in the final book. I’ve collected notes, tips, and things not to forget from all over the place. Everything from K.M. Weiland books, articles online, and YouTube videos have informed this list. I’m going to spend the next few blogs going into this in detail so strap in.
This week is going to be a semi-detailed look at the whole process. Right off the top, here are all the rounds of editing.
- The Brown Edit– First Read-Through
- The Red Edit – Developmental Edit
- The Orange Edit – Fine Detail Edit
- The Blue Edit – Line Edit
- The Purple Edit – ProWritingAid Edit
- The Gold Edit – Edit Out Loud Edit
- The Green Edit – Final Read-Through and Polish
The Brown Edit is just what it says on the tin: I read the entire first draft manuscript and make notes. The first step of the Red Edit is incorporating those notes followed by broad strokes like hook, climax, structure, pacing, death concerns, and scene necessity and balance. The Orange Edit goes deeper with consistency, descriptions, and show-don’t-tell. The Blue Edit follows on as the line edit looking at weak words, filter words, opening lines, and general word economy. After that, I feed it into ProWritingAid for its suggestions in the Purple Edit and then Edit Out Loud to hear things actually read out loud to check for anything that sounds off in the Gold Edit. Lastly, the Green Edit (green means go!) is my final reading after ALL these changes and checking for anything that needs a final polish.
THEN it’s off to the professional editor. By that point, I can’t see the forest for the trees. To catch anything else, I need a literal professional. Next week, we’ll dig deep into the icky Brown Edit so you can see what I do there. Have a great week!
May the tide carry you to safer shores.
BSG