Editing: Day 1

The editing process has begun! After about a month of not writing, and reading several different things, I’ve decided that it’s time to dive back into this book and work towards a second draft. I started by printing it out, which was the most satisfying thing I’ve done as a writer. Behold:

It’s real! I can touch it! (and more importantly, write on it.)

Then, I started to read. The few people I’ve spoken to regarding this book have all been surprised to hear that I’ve never actually read most of it. Yes, I wrote it, but that’s really not the same thing. I know what I think the story is like, but before now, had no real idea what it actually came out like. Let me tell you, it’s a rude awakening. Many of the errors I made were a result of the crazy process that Laz went through before I finally deemed it a completed rough draft. Given that it was written out of order over the course of four years, there are a lot of continuity problems in addition to the grammatical issues and patches of sloppy writing that I expected to encounter. Because of this, I’ve decided to employ a color coding system that will help me keep track of the different issues that I’ll need to correct. This will give me a good idea of what I’m up against when I begin the second draft.

Here’s a picture of what I’m talking about.

Obviously I only use manly colors…

So each color highlighter there indicates a different proposed fix for the problems I find. Whether I need to totally rewrite a section, expand a part to include more detail, or correct a plot continuity mistake, I mark it with it’s corresponding color and write an explanation in the margin. I also use the same color sticky notes as tabs to mark the larger problems.

Not included in these pictures is the notebook I’m keeping for the biggest problems I find, ones that I’ll really need to brainstorm ideas to work around.

I’ll post another update when I’m further along. Until then, wish me luck.

-Sal