Ye Olde Editing Process

A few weeks ago, I read somewhere that writers tend to fall into two categories. First, you have those who most enjoy the actual writing process. The second group is composed of those folk who get a bigger kick out of editing, tinkering with things until the fall into place just right, till things fit.

I would have to say that I do not like editing, not one bit. I finished writing on July the 20th, and per the book/kit's suggestion, did not pick my printed out manuscript for two weeks. Two weeks! It was a good idea, however, as I feel fairly sure that if I had read through everything right away, I would have been happy with it, perhaps even thought it was good.

Let this serve as a notice to anyone who may attempt such a feat in the future (and please do, I think I'm going to do this again in November, which is the official National Novel Writing Month), to keep in mind that you are working on the first, rough draft of a novel. Chanting the words 'only a rough draft, it was only a rough draft' as I read through my 'manuscript' was the only thing that kept me dousing myself and my two inch stack of paper with lighter fluid and having an 'accident' in the kitchen. Whew, that thing was rough.

Reading back over it a couple times, it doesn't seem as bad as it had during the preliminary run through, though I know I have a shit-ton of work to do.Yesterday I finally grouped things into chapters, whereas before the only breaks in writing had been all cap letters announcing another day ('START DAY TWENTY-TWO'). I also very, very briefly summarized who is in each chapter, and the action that occurs. Today, I took those notes and transposed them onto index cards, breaking it further down, from chapters into scenes. Have a look see. I'm not even going to say how long it took me to do all that crap.

My crack-addict internet broke down a little while ago, so I didn't have a chance to upload the even prettier pictures of my masterpiece before my camera battery died. I know, even pretty, if you can believe it. More pictures tomorrow, and some explanation of the color coded system (and by tomorrow, I mean three weeks from now).