Bleh. Horrible attempt at life today. Didnt get anything constructive halfway off the ground. Broke my record for least written today since I started, but I guess it was better than no writing. Which I was sorely tempted to do. Anyway, since everyone seems to be prepping for editing, I modified a plan created by the user ‘rhymebito’ (Blog / Twitter@ZerosJourney) over at the Nanowrimo forums as a template to create my own editing process.
In case anyone finds it useful, thought I’d share it here as well:
1a. write first draft
1b. immediate post-draft crit points, then sit on it for a while
2a. re-read and make delayed post-draft crit points
2b. label POVs [IDs, char# in/out chronology], matching summary post-its and rearrange til happy
2c. draft 2 rearrange accordingly
3. draft 3, cut fluff ~10%?
4a. macro content revision, print out manuscript
4b. plot holes, character arcs, coherency, pacing, desc.+dialogue, voice
4c. content revision addressing all crit points one by one
4d. repeat as needed until happy with draft 4.x
5. beta reads, address comments
6. micro revision, word redundancy, imagery, sentence tightening
7. print out manuscript in diff font: grammar, spelling, style consistency, read backwards etc
8. polish
9. final beta reads
10. final polish
Notes:
- The numbers of the steps basically refer to the draft number, as separated by aim. Some have sub-drafts. They're grouped in relevant blocks so I can see the various phases of editing easier at a glance.
* 'Crit points' refers to me making a bullet-point list of concerns with my novel that I've made as I've gone along to address during the editing phase. I'm doing a mid-draft crit atm, with plans for an immediate post-draft completion crit (1b) and another delayed post-draft crit (2a) after taking a break from the project.
It seems like a lot of work, but I'd rather skip steps later consciously if need be than get lost in the process and feel overwhelmed.
Also, here is Come Down To Us, Track 3 from Burial’s new EP titled Rival Dealer (just released Dec 16th!). Pretty cool atmospheric stuff (and surprisingly upbeat for Burial) that’s great for setting a mood. All of Burial’s stuff is though, to be fair.
abdulj. 