It's been pointed out that I should maybe, possibly, talk a little
about how I do what I do as far as editing goes. The short version is,
I've been reading other people's writing for a very long time now, and I
have a good idea about two things: what I like, and what works. I even
know how to separate the two, though it's always nice when I get to work
with the former. That's not a talent most people have. I can also sit
down with something that's not working and list 3-5 ways to fix it,
which is generally more helpful than "here's my one true way." The
chances that you're coming to me for fiction editing are pretty high.
There is no One True Way. There's ways that work, ways that don't, ways
that lead you to a story that's not the one you thought you were
writing, and ways that may be beyond your current technical skill level.
Just for a few.
How I edit is, in at least one sense, very much
like how I write and translate. Though it's possible for me to work on
the laptop (in fact, I'm doing so right now), I prefer to do the bulk of
my work at the desktop. As
you can see, I've got most things to hand, and in the event that I need
my foreign language dictionaries they're a hop away in the filing
cabinet. (Yes, I have a filing cabinet full of language and music books.
What? This isn't normal? I ran out of bookshelf space.) Squirt bottle
of chastisement for when the cat decides attacking his reflection is the
best way to break my concentration, assorted musical instruments when
I'm chewing over a knotty problem, various things to keep warm with,
external hard drive, and all the ibuprofen and Tums you can shake a
stick at. I try to keep it warm enough that I'm not shivering, cool
enough that I'm not sweating, and the music at a volume suitable to my
mood. I take micro-breaks where I surf the internet, reply to chats or
emails, and so on at completely unpredictable intervals. Longer breaks
come around once every hour or two, where I make sure to stand up and
stretch and do a couple rounds of PT exercises.
I usually work
best in one hour blocks of time anyway, spaced out throughout the day
and swapping one set of tasks for another. Ideally, I swap
editing/writing/translating for something physical, be it music practice
or eating a meal or doing some quick housework. Unlike a lot of people,
I don't have specific times of the day I am "most" productive. My most
productive times are when I plant my ass in the chair and declare I'm
accomplishing something, and I do that at least twice a day, five days a
week. Because breaks and regular meals are important too! Because I'm a
musician by training, I tend to think of this as 'playing the rests.'
Editing work occupies my analytical brain and gives my body a chance to
rest; music occupies my body and my instincts (and, sometimes, a
different side of analysis). Translation calls on both instincts and
analysis, especially if I'm not going for a word-for-word but a more
freeform translation, making it arguably the most difficult of the
three. Regardless of what I'm doing, the important part is that I get to
engage all my faculties each day, as well as taking short knitting or
cross stitch or reading breaks, depending on what part of me feels most
depleted.
Whenever I get a new work, I do an initial read-through
in reader-brain. This is markedly different from editor brain, and it
lets me figure out if the writer has succeeded in whatever they set out
to do. Am I entertained? Am I informed? Am I moved? I make a note of it,
usually for my own personal use, and go on to the second read-through.
Assuming I'm doing a full round of edits on it, I start by addressing
the overall structure. Weak points get shored up, places where I feel
the writing has strayed get marked off, and I make a quick sketch of the
outline of the piece for the benefit of the writer. (If the writer
worked from an outline, it's always fascinating to know how closely
these match.) For fiction, I will take special note of guns on the
mantel. Then I send it all back to the writer and we get to engage in
either real time or asynchronous discussion of the edits. Once the
structure is hammered into something closer to a final draft, I work on
grammar fixes, typos, and line edits. Sometimes a line edit will lead to
revisiting the structural edits, but more often they sand the rough
edges off an author's natural voice, playing to their strengths. For
example, Kitty has a very noir, spare writing style for a great deal of
her work. This makes finding the exact word tricky but ultimately more
rewarding than using five words where one would do.
Over the years, I've read lots and lots and many
blog posts over How To Be Self-Employed, but the one thing that the
most successful people have in common is that they show up. Whatever it
is that I'm aiming to do, I have to be there for it, and being
there can be as simple as walking away from the computer and picking up
my instrument or as complex as sitting and working on edits while using
of the internet/books to fact-check things and not getting distracted.
It's a tricky balance, to be sure, and there are days when I absolutely
don't wanna. Those are the days I curl up with hot cocoa or promise
myself a cold beer after finishing a certain amount of work. It's not
just a good idea to reward yourself, it's vital when you're
self-employed. But that's a whole other blog post.
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