The Editing Process

[malenkayacherepakha]

Editing my own works isn't something I do very well - I read things over of course and make the odd minor change, but I've never done a proper critical edit of my fic. I want to improve my writing though, and I've got a couple of fics in the pipeline that I hope have the potential to be really good, and good editing is going to help a lot with that.

So, I thought I'd see what wisdom all the brilliant writers on here have to share!
What do you look for when you edit (or beta!)?
How does your editing process (or beta process) work?

Any thoughts are massively appreciated!

Comments

[pauraque]

For me the most important thing is getting some distance before I try to self-edit. After finishing a draft, I try to give it at least a few days of not looking at or thinking about the fic at all, and then go back to it. (Longer would probably be even better, but those pesky deadlines...) The better I can simulate the experience of reading it for the first time, the more likely it is I'll catch mistakes or confusing aspects, and be less biased by my own knowledge of what I meant when I was writing.

As for what I look for, besides overt mistakes, I focus a lot on flow and pacing. I find it hard to get pacing right on the first draft. A paragraph that took me 15 minutes to write might only take 15 seconds to read, so I may have assumed that the fic spent enough time on some point when it really didn't. I look for areas where there should be a slow buildup or a sudden surprise, and make sure they actually read that way to someone who doesn't know what's supposed to happen.

I also do a lot of fiddling with the wording and structure of sentences and paragraphs, making sure I'm not reusing the same words too often or using awkward phrases that trip me up when I try to read them. (Reading out loud can help highlight these.) Then, if I've changed some section significantly, I go back to the beginning of the fic/scene and read it over for pacing again. I usually go through this process several times until I'm hardly changing anything on each read-through, and that's when I consider it done enough to go to beta.

But I think what you should look for in your editing process depends on what you think your own weaknesses are. If you know what you struggle with, you can be more effective at fixing it. (For example, I have a terrible habit of overusing semicolons and em-dashes, so during editing I look for them and take a lot out. But this isn't a problem everybody has!) When you look at your own older fics, what sorts of things stand out to you as things you could have done better? What kinds of advice and corrections do your beta-readers give you over and over?

The biggest thing that's made me better at self-editing is truly taking in the things my beta-readers have said, and generalizing them. Okay, I put too much detail in this one paragraph of this one fic, and now I fixed it... But maybe I want to keep that in the back of my mind for the next fic, and ask myself if I'm doing it again. What would my beta say about this paragraph? After a while, you can practically put your beta out of a job because you're catching all the things they would catch. (Though it's always still a good idea to use one, I think -- another set of eyes never stops being useful.)

[malenkayacherepakha]

This is really helpful, thank you for going into such detail!

The distance is so important, but as you say sometimes deadlines get in the way of that! I'm nearly at the deadline for my current fic but my next project doesn't have any deadlines, so I'll be taking advantage of that and leaving more time before editing.

Looking back at my older fics to see where the issues are is a great idea, I'm going to set aside some time to do that and essentially beta myself. I think part of my difficulty is that my betas have tended not to be very critical (often betas who I've found on the discord server just offer spag and not much more - maybe because there isn't necessarily a longer relationship there so there isn't as much comfort with being critical?). I'm going to be more explicit with my betas from now on that I actively welcome that criticism, but I can also try and pretend that I'm not the writer and criticise myself more too.

Thank you so much!

[pauraque]

Having beta-readers who will go beyond spag and dig deeper has been important for me. When I first started posting fic, I was lucky to find some betas who had a gift for giving perceptive and useful critique and shared it very generously. Not everybody has the insight to see how a story could be taken from good to great, and even if they do, not everybody knows how to articulate it in a helpful way. And, as you say, they may not be willing to risk it with a writer they don't know well.

One thing to try is asking people whose writing you admire if they'd be willing to critique your work. I know asking a specific person directly is more daunting than just asking for a volunteer, but it can be rewarding if they say yes!

[malenkayacherepakha]

I've had a couple of beta readers who've gone further with the criticism and I'm making a point now to tell my betas that I'm fine with it to hopefully combat that fear of upsetting me. And as you say, some people are very good at giving useful critique, so I want to keep building beta relationships with people who have done that for me in the past.

It's definitely scary asking for some I admire to look at my work, but I think it'll be worth it. I was actually thinking about doing that with the fic I'm currently working on as I writer I really admire expressed interest in it when I first picked the prompt, so I'll have to gather up my courage and ask if they're open to reading through it!