18 September 2011

My Latest Edit

Over the past three days I’ve read through the latest version of Lives Interrupted.  I’ve lost count of the number of complete edits I’ve done on this manuscript.  Some have been multiple sweeps going through for specific items (weak words, deepening character in dialogue, etc.), others to make sure the plot holds together, and things happen when they are supposed to.  Here are links on my editing process if you're interested - Big Picture - here - here, and finally here.  Some are obviously less work intensive than others.
I was hoping this would be a final read-through.  Did you pick up a clue in that sentence?
Now I’ve finished this particular edit, I'm happy there were fewer changes than in previous ones, though unfortunately a few too many for me to say this was the last edit. 
There is an interesting post from Janice Hardy on the subject of making things worse when editing.  I’ve found a few instances of this: some of sloppy cutting or pasting where a stray word gets left in, or moved to the wrong place, and others where I realise that in changing a sentence I’ve now used a word that is in the next/previous paragraph.  Grrr is this task ever finished?
I can see I’ll be reading out loud again next weekend!

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