Katarina Claire's Corner
  • Home
    • Free Stories >
      • Old Man in an Abandoned House
    • In the Works
  • About Author
  • Published Work
    • Call of the Black Panther >
      • Characters
      • Excerpt
    • CEOs vs Workers
    • Grassroots Reflections
    • Red Sand Hill
  • Unpublished Work
    • Beneath the Surface >
      • Characters
    • Cat Kingdom >
      • Characters
    • The Rules Trilogy >
      • Characters
    • United We Stand or Do We? >
      • Characters
  • Blog
  • Links
  • Contact

Editing Another's Work

3/25/2017

0 Comments

 
I've been fortunate to have people around me whose love for language and weaving narrative matches my own. Writing is very much a self-directed activity. Countless hours of work go into crafting scenes let alone whole books. This work is generally unrewarded until a mostly coherent piece has been established, however, if an author can connect with individuals or a group to exchange ideas, section editing or even novel swaps then a whole new depth is added to the process.

I prefer to work with individuals rather than a group and the person I've worked most with over the years is Accalia Leigh. Since meeting in high school writing has been a foundation of our friendship, navigating the intricate layers of plot, characterisation and world building a constant source of joy for us both. One of the most challenging aspects of assisting someone else with their book is providing feedback without rewriting their story in your own words.

The first full story I helped Accalia edit was 'Dance of the Chaos Winds'. It, more than the ones that followed, suffered from this aspect of me being a novice editor. Because I had particular word preferences, sentence structures and even punctuation styles I liberally applied these to 'Chaos Winds'. As a result, the story has a lot of my author's voice in it. What an author should do is suggest changes based on sentence structure, comprehensiveness and story enrichment, not make another's tale their own.

Thankfully, Accalia and me have increased our editing experience so this is not nearly as much of an issue anymore. Something I've found helps to eliminate this tendency is planning multiple editing sessions. The flow I usually follow is: Round 1 consists primarily of detail-oriented editing like sentence structure, word choice and comprehensiveness. Round 2 involves a deeper look at the story, characters and world, ensuring that each of the aforementioned is fleshed out, believable and interesting. Depending on how much editing is required in rounds 1 and 2, a 3rd round might be necessary so that the changes are well-integrated.

Accalia and I usually alternate between stories at different stages of editing to avoid boredom and errors linked to familiarity. An example is that, once round 2 of Story A is complete, we will move onto editing Story B in round 1. Once round 1 of Story B has been completed, we will then go back to Story A and perform a round 3 edit.

This sequence has worked very well and our stories are much improved by it. Having a dedicated writing/editing partner is amazing and should be treasured. It's just as important to have as many readers as possible review the story since, the more who do, the better it will become. Every person has their strength when it comes to narratives as well as their preferences. Incorporating the opinions of multiple readers will make the story the strongest it can be.

On that note, I want to say that you, the author, should not feel pressured to utilise all the recommendations you receive. You envisioned and wrote the tale so are the person who knows best what you're trying to say in it. All feedback is valuable, but what you implement should only bolster your original vision, not transform it into someone else's.

April Camp NANOWRIMO is next month. If you're looking for a community of writers to support your creative endeavours, it's a fantastic place to start!

Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Here is where I post updates and thoughts about my writing (as well as sources of inspiration).  Views expressed are strictly my own.

    Archives

    March 2020
    June 2019
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.