Happy almost Easter, readers! No book review today; lately, I've been waist-deep in stories with both newswriting and manuscript editing. I'm also trying to invent a sort-of board game with Legos, because why not.
However, I'm not leaving today blank. See, before I go back and edit my NaNoWriMo project, I am determined to work over a completely different manuscript, and boy-oh-boy-oh-yikes-oh-run-for-cover does it need a rework. I already have plans slated for scene reworking, segment rearranging, character working, and other stuff that will probably increase my word count. At least I'm getting rid of those words like "finally", "slowly", "suddenly", and "began" which annoy me like you wouldn't believe.
The manuscript is going through such a rework, though, that I am reminded of the classic writer's advice for first drafts: throw them away and start over. I've never followed this advice; I'm more of a recycling kind of guy because I never throw out something I'm going to use again. I'm too concerned to pitch the million errors along with the one good point in the narrative. Besides, is it really necessary in the age of word processors to start over? Unlike ink on paper, words and paragraphs are modular on the screen. Writing is more like building with Legos than sculpting from marble.
But what do I know? That's why I'm asking you. What's your preferred mode of major draft editing? If you want to share your wisdom, feel free to comment on this post or on its links on my Facebook or Twitter pages. By the way, before you tag your editing style as "Wailing and grinding of teeth", remember that's something ALL writers do when perusing their catalog of errors.
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