How do your revise your own writing?

[Hurricane John]

I try to write a set number of pages each day, then the following day I reread and edit the pages from the previous day. When I finish a chapter, I reread and edit the chapter. Once the book is complete, I let my wife read, edit and make suggestions, which I may or may not incorporate in to the book.

Last and most importantly, I let a professional editor look at it before I publish.

[ekatemari]

Hallo moderntimes

I work as an editor and proofreader at a small publishing house, dealing with non-fiction texts and magazine editorial as well as web content. Working on proofs almost constantly, I can tell you that the most valuable resource you can have is another person. After reading and re-reading a document umpteen times, you can't help but become blind to certain errors – it's as though your mind says 'hey, we've already seen this! Nothing new to find here!'. So yeah, you simply need to have a fresh pair of eyes to look over it, whether it's just a friend or an experienced freelance editor (which is incidentally something I'm looking to get into on top of the 9–5!).

I find that it also helps to read the text through in a different format, i.e. once it has been laid out by a designer, I guess because it breaks the pattern that you've gotten used to in the .doc proof. And after all that, I'd probably print a couple of advance copies of the entire book and have a couple of people beta it...

Hope that helps!

[moderntimes]

Appreciate the suggestions. Problem with Beta readers is that nobody I know is both 1- capable, and 2- has the spare time.

I simply cannot ask a friend to spend hours carefully proofing a manuscript. Reading it for general feedback, sure, but for editing? Nope. Cannot impose to that degree.

That said, I have passed chapters thru pals who are 1- sailing enthusiasts (some chapters take place on a small sailboat (Beneteau First 20) and I wanted to get my terms right, 2- a couple of cop pals (one in homicide) for accuracy on police procedures, and 3- a gun pal for feedback on anything involving firearms (I'm a shooting "pro" myself but it's always good to have a 2nd opinion).

[speedesch2]

I write, check and read the material, spell and grammar check and ultimately once done, read through the work in its entirety with adjustments if needed and then get one or two other people to read it with feedback.

[iColor With Crayons]

I just write out the entire thing without looking over it as I go, then I put it away for a week or so, until I've sort of forgotten what it's all about. Then I go back and read it as if it were all new to me, and see if it flows coherently, works grammatically, and is overall something the average reader would approve of.

[moderntimes]

iColor, that's fine if the work is short, as an essay or short story, but for a novel length, the revision process can't be reading and revising the whole book in a single pass -- it has to be done in segments.

But anyway, for me, to let my work in progress sit for a week? No way I could to that -- I've got to keep plugging away while the muse sits on my shoulders and helps me do the job at hand.

I normally write from 4 to 5 hours a day, sometimes as much as 7 (just ask my girlfriend! ha ha)

[NJ Slater]

Endlessly, like most writers who cannot afford an editor

[Johntherobert]

My phone has an automatic speed check.

[moderntimes]

Endlessly, like most writers who cannot afford an editor

Endlessly the same, for me. But even major authors don't "afford" an editor. That editing is part of what the publisher does. When my 2 mystery novels were published, the publisher sent the books through two separate editors, the "line" editor, who found & corrected typos and grammatical errors, the "copy" edit, looking for larger issues, such as legal problems and stylistic departure from standards. Then the book was reviewed by 2 "content" editors, who addressed things like plot problems, dialogue inconsistencies, overall philosophical items, such as whether this character might know more and be deceptive, that sort of thing.

By the way, the "content" editors only made suggestions, such as "you might tighten up the dialogue here" or "this character ought not to behave this way" and so on, and it was made clear to me that these changes were not mandatory. After all, I was the author. But these final content editors (one was an editor assigned to my novel, the other was the editor in chief) were pros, and I took their suggestions to heart. I therefore changed about 40% of what they commented on, if only slightly.

As for the copy and the line edits, these were mostly "mechanical" edits (adding a missing comma, etc.) and all of them needed changing. The copy editor found zero legal problems with my books, likely because I'd been professionally published before and knew what I could and could not say or quote. For example, copyrighted song lyrics -- I would need legal clearance to quote them so I merely paraphrased the pertinent lyrics instead, which is okay.

So... when your story or novel is purchased for publication by a professional firm, all the editing is done as part of the deal. You never have to worry about "affording" an editor.

That being said, I completed my 3rd novel this spring and immediately went back through it, making small changes, a word here, a phrase there, slight "fixes" in paragraphing and so on. And, just last week, a publisher expressed interest in re-purchasing my first 2 novels (plus the new one!) and so I quickly read through my two previous books and tweaked them slightly before submitting them to the publisher.

Therefore, yes, I endlessly re-edit and revise my novels. Whew!

[CWC]

I never used to do much editing /revising but now I usually walk away from the piece for some period of time then come back to it. I also try to break myself of the habit of editing as I write.

[BookFever]

I always step away from it. I get to a point where I think I have made good progress and then I (figuratively) walk away. Giving it space and not looking at the same words and sentences for a period of time lets me look at it with clear eyes when I do come back to what I've written. It also helps me find errors.

[moderntimes]

Funny that my last post was in March, here it is September, and I just finished yet ONE MORE work through of my new novel, making final tweaks. It's a seeming endless task but it has to be a labor of love or you just will freeze up.

For example of the changes I just made, I saw (re-reading the novel again) that I'd overused "for a moment" so I changed some of those to "briefly" or other analogues. I also saw that I'd overused "slightly" so I altered that too.

T do finally think my book is ready for the publisher, Whew!

[sarahpayne23]

Do you ever use a professional to edit your writing?

[moderntimes]

Do you ever use a professional to edit your writing?

I wouldn't call it "using" an editor but for the vast majority of my writing, it gets edited and reviewed by the publisher staff as a normal consequence of a contract -- the author is of course responsible for the writing but the publisher is also liable if there are legal problems. For example, if I were to have my characters eat dinner in a real restaurant which I name, and they have a horrible experience. And we know that Jesse Ventura (slime) sued the widow of American sniper Chris Kyle for making comments about him. And of course the editing staff at the publisher checks for mechanical errors, too.

So yeah, all the time, as most of my writing is for pay and goes thru a professional edit and review. For example, my publisher's staff reviewed and vetted my 3 novels, checking for typos, grammar, and legal issues, plus the senior editor reviewed for style. Very few changes were effected, however.

And of course my magazine articles all get review by the editorial staff.

Review and editing by pros on staff at the publisher is how it's normally done. My book reviews (I review novels for a mystery website) are of course read thru my my editor, but thus far she's not found anything to alter. Whew.