reader. writer.

When I say myths about editing in the title, I mean my myths, the misconceptions I persist in bringing to the editing process. 

The biggest myth for me is the idea that once I start editing, I’m done with revising. I mean, I did just finish a lengthy round of revising, so who wouldn’t want to consider themselves done? For this round of editing, I’ve been reading aloud and comparing notes with grammar and spellcheck programs. My focus has been to comb through to catch errors, a process I tend to see as one of the more straightforward experiences of writing. Okay, so yeah, there’s my second myth, that editing is a direct and straightforward process. Yet some of the time it is. When I first began, it was so delightfully linear. Ah, there’s myth number 3: editing is linear, as in you start at the beginning and you go to the end, unlike the recursive nature of writing and revising. Sigh. 

So at least at first, I lived the dream—I started editing from the start of the novel and moved at what was a consistent and gratifying pace. Oh, sure, I paused sometimes to roll my eyes. Sometimes, I, Editor Cama, wanted to have words with Writer Cama. Nonetheless, there was a satisfying forward progression that’s heady in ways that I don’t experience in the drafting and revising stages. 

Hmm, that leads me to mention myth 4, the idea that editing doesn’t require quite as much focus or creativity. I often feel as if it is less taxing intellectually and emotionally, more like a game of “spot the difference.”

So there I was feeling as if I was really making progress. I was also relaxed, as if I didn’t have to concentrate, just catch whatever I can catch, clean it quickly and move on. Then Writer Cama leans over my shoulder to point something out.

My feelings were mixed, speaking for Editor Cama. But really, Writer Cama sends me off to sharpen pencils while she works, so why can’t she stick to playing with crayons and let me get on with the serious work of Editing. But somehow, while I thought my only focus was correcting verb tenses, spotting typos, and addressing what turns out to be a hole in my brain where compound nouns should be stored, she must have been paying attention to the story itself, spotting a plot device that needed attention across multiple chapters. 

It was a good catch. But fixing it meant I had to get off my linear joyride and go back and forth and search and hunt and think and write. I switched from flying through chapters 1, 2, 3, etc. to getting bogged down in paragraph 5, and paragraph 5 again, and then maybe a little bit of paragraph 6. 

At any rate, this tells you where I am in my writing process this week. The good news is that I did succeed in making the revision, and I think/hope it made the novel stronger. Now I have just a few more revisions to go before Editor Cama can roll up her sleeves and get back to work on what is a straightforward, linear, rewarding process. Most of the time. Sorta.