Lesson 2. Edit and edit and edit and edit and edit and edit and edit……

Do you over edit, while your writing? Here's an easy way to fix it.

Lesson 2. Edit and edit and edit and edit and edit and edit and edit……

Problem: So you’re on the 6^th chapter of your story, and you go back to chapter 2 to check something. But then, you see a sentence that doesn’t quite make sense, why not fix it now, right? It’ll save you time later. But then, you see that in another sentence, some is talking that isn’t even alive! Better change that now, because again, it’ll save you time. But then you think, that’s something I could overlook, I should go through the 6 chapters to see if I made that mistake again, and you see a paragraph that you want to rewrite! And then, once you’ve rewritten that paragraph, another paragraph doesn’t make sense anymore, so you have to rewrite that one, too. You go on and on, editing and re-editing, over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over…..

Reason: You keep reading what you’ve already written! I know this seems very simple, and most of all, stupid, but this happens to everyone at least once while they’re writing, and it’s one of the biggest reasons why people can’t finish what they write.

The fix: The easiest way to fix this is to simply make it so it’s difficult to edit! Although writing on the computer can be much better, because people think much faster than they can handwrite, all you need to do is, get a large notebook (composition works best, the five subject size) and a PEN, and start writing. Use a pen because you can’t erase this! Don’t double space, either, this gives you room to cross out and rewrite. Write your entire first rough draft in the notebook, then go ahead and type it into the computer. If you write in a notebook, it’s safe to go back and read what you’ve written, and actually, reading what you’ve already written can save you some editing in the future; however, if you keep editing you will never finish your writing, and that is not a good thing!

Don’t go yet!: Editing while writing is bad, but editing after you write? GOOD! I’m not telling you to not edit it at all, even fantastic authors like J. K. Rowling edit, and because you don’t have an editor, you have to do all the work yourself.

Comments

Brandon Langley

Posted 10 Years Ago Hmmm... J.K. Rowling, a fantastic author? I'm not convinced! But this course is really helping me, if you read some of my work, you know I love cliffhangers more than J.J. Abrams loves lens flares

Weaver

Posted 13 Years Ago ...And then there was the time when you realized that what you wrote for Chapter 3 would make the intended end of the story not work, but you didn't change Chapter 3 because that would be wrong... I know someone who edits as he goes along. He also writes novels of over 100,000 words in less than a month. So I'm not convinced that editing as you go will get in the way of finishing.