In The Demons’ Head: The Horrors Of Editing
July 1, 2016
Welcome to July. Hard to think we’re over halfway through 2016 already and I still haven’t quite made the progress that I’ve wanted, though I’ve made some which is a positive I do suppose. So today, I wanted to write a post to those of you out in internet land about the joys of editing. ( I really hope you tasted the sarcasm that was laced throughout that sentence.)
July 1, 2016
Welcome to July. Hard to think we’re over halfway through 2016 already and I still haven’t quite made the progress that I’ve wanted, though I’ve made some which is a positive I do suppose. So today, I wanted to write a post to those of you out in internet land about the joys of editing. ( I really hope you tasted the sarcasm that was laced throughout that sentence.)
So if you’ve ever written a book, or know anything about the book writing process, and a lot of readers do you know that in just about every case no bestselling novel was churned out perfectly in the first draft. Even the most highly skilled writers have some extra words, some bullshit that shouldn’t be in the story, or some issues that they need to deal with and that’s where editing comes in.
That’s where I’m at right now with what I hope will be my first released novel. Stop me if you’ve heard that sentence before!!! (Hint: I said something similar while writing my actual first novel. 4 books later I think I’ve finally started to kind of figure out how to write a book and this one is SO much better then the first one.)
Since the start of June, I’ve been slaving away at chopping words, destroying scenes, remapping character directions, you know everything that a godless human being does to his sad created world before he dices it up and puts it out for the public to pray on. I mean how fair is that!!!
Editing really isn’t as horrible as I’m making it seem. Especially when you’re able to continue to work on the book pretty much every day. Which I have managed to do for the most part up until this week. (Damn you storySellers bootcamp!) I have every intention of finishing within the next week. Then it becomes fun.
But Kyle, you’ve already edited, how much worse can it get? Let’s try this on for size. Have you ever had your heart and soul ripped out, thrown to the ground, diced in gasoline, lit on fire, and then watched someone proceeded to do some sort of shamanistic dance around it as if they’re summoning the second coming of christ? Yeah, that’s about how it feels when an ACTUAL editor gets ahold of your work and starts to direct it.
That part is the part that really kills you inside if you’re not prepared for it. I wasn’t but the beautiful thing is that I am now. I’ve decided that I’m going to at least attempt to take myself out of the equation to an extent and allow him to work. This is the second book that he’ll do of mine, and he made me realize on the last one that it needed a lot of work. It will likely get rewrote down the line but for now it’s sitting in a dark corner crying because Uncle Scotty was so goddamn mean to him.
In all honesty though, after reading his review notes, it helped me become aware of some stuff, made me realize that things needed to change, and I’m hoping that with this book I did much better overall in the writing and I feel like I did. I won’t make any promises just yet but I’m hoping that this is the first book that you’ll see of mine hopefully later this year.
The writing process is fun, and it’s even more fun when you can share it with people and readers and let them in on your little quirks and hijinks and that’s kind of what I’m aiming to do now. I don’t know where this book will end up, hopefully in someone’s kindle library very soon. But, if not then chalk it up and I’ll start the next project. Because at the end of the day if you’re not continuing to write, you’re not going to continue to get better.
That concludes today’s lesson everyone. If you like what you read, please give me a follow on Twitter, or Wattled by clicking the correct link. Give me a follow on Facebook as well. Last but not least, please feel free to subscribe to this blog and my mailing list by clicking THIS LINK!!!! Until the next time you want to take a trip through the gates of hell and into the demon’s head, I’m Kyle Robinson wishing you a safe trip back to the surface.
That’s where I’m at right now with what I hope will be my first released novel. Stop me if you’ve heard that sentence before!!! (Hint: I said something similar while writing my actual first novel. 4 books later I think I’ve finally started to kind of figure out how to write a book and this one is SO much better then the first one.)
Since the start of June, I’ve been slaving away at chopping words, destroying scenes, remapping character directions, you know everything that a godless human being does to his sad created world before he dices it up and puts it out for the public to pray on. I mean how fair is that!!!
Editing really isn’t as horrible as I’m making it seem. Especially when you’re able to continue to work on the book pretty much every day. Which I have managed to do for the most part up until this week. (Damn you storySellers bootcamp!) I have every intention of finishing within the next week. Then it becomes fun.
But Kyle, you’ve already edited, how much worse can it get? Let’s try this on for size. Have you ever had your heart and soul ripped out, thrown to the ground, diced in gasoline, lit on fire, and then watched someone proceeded to do some sort of shamanistic dance around it as if they’re summoning the second coming of christ? Yeah, that’s about how it feels when an ACTUAL editor gets ahold of your work and starts to direct it.
That part is the part that really kills you inside if you’re not prepared for it. I wasn’t but the beautiful thing is that I am now. I’ve decided that I’m going to at least attempt to take myself out of the equation to an extent and allow him to work. This is the second book that he’ll do of mine, and he made me realize on the last one that it needed a lot of work. It will likely get rewrote down the line but for now it’s sitting in a dark corner crying because Uncle Scotty was so goddamn mean to him.
In all honesty though, after reading his review notes, it helped me become aware of some stuff, made me realize that things needed to change, and I’m hoping that with this book I did much better overall in the writing and I feel like I did. I won’t make any promises just yet but I’m hoping that this is the first book that you’ll see of mine hopefully later this year.
The writing process is fun, and it’s even more fun when you can share it with people and readers and let them in on your little quirks and hijinks and that’s kind of what I’m aiming to do now. I don’t know where this book will end up, hopefully in someone’s kindle library very soon. But, if not then chalk it up and I’ll start the next project. Because at the end of the day if you’re not continuing to write, you’re not going to continue to get better.
That concludes today’s lesson everyone. If you like what you read, please give me a follow on Twitter, or Wattled by clicking the correct link. Give me a follow on Facebook as well. Last but not least, please feel free to subscribe to this blog and my mailing list by clicking THIS LINK!!!! Until the next time you want to take a trip through the gates of hell and into the demon’s head, I’m Kyle Robinson wishing you a safe trip back to the surface.