Editing - Tumblr Posts - Page 3
WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME ABOUT PRO WRITING AID BEFORE?! THIS THING IS FUCKING GLORIOUS. HOLY SHIT. LOOK AT THIS.
IT GIVES YOU A WHOLE DAMN REPORT ON YOUR WRITING AND WALKS YOU THROUGH HOW TO MAKE IT BETTER AND WHY IT IS SUGGESTING CHANGES. THIS IS JUST A TINY CHUNK OF THE HUGE REPORT IT GAVE ME ON THE FIRST CHAPTER OF ONE OF MY PROJECTS. I AM IN LOVE.
AND IT WORKS WITH SCRIVENER. AND IT IS AFFORDABLE.
WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME?!
How I Wrote A Novel.
This, in a nutshell, is what I did to get a book with my name on it.
NOTE: This is just my personal way of making the words go. Other people have different ways to make their words go. In the world of words, there are no right answers. There’s just lots and lots of tea/coffee/tear stains.
1). The Idea
When I get an idea for a story, I open up a document, label it “Brainstorming,” and start making a bullet list of events that consist of the plot.
It has to be an idea with tangible weight. A stray bit of dialogue or something vague like Halloween, that doesn’t give me much to work off of. Halloween creatures living on the same street where it’s Autumn every day- now that’s something I can build from.
What kinds of creatures are they? What do they do? What do their houses look like? The best ideas are the ones that spark more.
2). First Draft
This is the easy part- and the most challenging. Easy, because there’s literally no bar. I just sat there and typed. But it’s a huge mental challenge.
When I was in first draft mode, I wanted that story out. I thought that by making it such a rough, far-away version from the concept in my head, I was only delaying the day where I’d hold it in my hands. Turns out, that’s what got it to take on physical form in the first place. So I quieted down, grabbed my laptop and some hot tea, and typed.
3). Dissecting the First Draft
After I finished draft one, I printed it all off and highlighted the scant amounts that were passable for the next phase. Dialogue, descriptions, setting- anything that didn’t look like it was up to par was scratched out and omitted.
I call the above pictures A Slow Descent Into Madness.
4). The Second Draft
On a fresh document, I rewrote the story altogether- and it make a difference. I was coming up with things I hadn’t even thought of previously. And it was surprising how much better the plot was than the first time around. But it was still rough.
5). Draft Three
My method was to start with the bigger, more obvious issues and work my way down. Any plot holes I found were noted, and my outline was constantly under revision. I cut out entire scenes and made mental notes on ways they could be fixed/replaced.
This is where I started cutting chapters in half to make the story flow better- but I didn’t bother writing in usable chapter titles. Instead, I improvised:
6). Drafts Four and Five
These were dedicated to correcting the smaller, less obvious plot holes. This was the point where the story finally started to look close to what would become the final version.
7). Drafts Seven Onward
With the story line looking how I wanted, I then moved on to sentence structure. That one song that looked terrible? Rewritten. Over-the-top descriptions and excessive prose? Gone.
8). Editing and Proofing
This is where I had outside help. Besides this useful tool, I had two people check for spelling issues and the overall story. Once it was in decent shape to be made public, I asked for some additional help.
9). Betas
My betas were in the age range that my novel was geared toward, along with a couple of teachers and parents (as it was middle grade). I gave them the full manuscript, along with seven basic questions like “Which characters were your favorite/least favorite and why?” and “Was there a part of the story that didn’t make sense?”
I gave my betas three months to read a 42,590 word story, and by the end they gave me back the review sheets.
10). Final Adjustments
After I read over the reviews, I let the comments sit for three days so that I could proceed with a clear head. I smoothed out any flaws, scanned over the MS twice to make sure everything was right, and that is how I got to the end of writing my first novel.
Next comes publishing- which is a different beast entirely.
reminder to myself about the process of drafting & revising:
first drafts are for making it exist
second drafts are for making it functional
third drafts are for making it effective
“For The Plot,” I whisper, deleting a rad detail that no longer works as tears fall from my eyes
How to Edit a First Draft
Or, how my WIP evolved from the nightmare that was draft two to the almost novel-like draft three.
My method for editing first drafts usually takes about two steps.
Read it over.
Scrap it and rewrite the whole thing.
Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that. I know, I know. It sounds really, really harsh. But with a first draft, you aren’t really editing it, you’re rewriting it. Because first drafts? They suck. Especially if you’re just starting out.
Finishing a first draft can feel so good. You just wrote a shit-ton of words, and now you’re done! That’s how I felt when I finished my first draft (or, rather, second draft in this case, but that’s only because my first draft was a half-finished pile of trash that I won’t be counting for the purposes of this post).
I mean, it’s how I wanted to feel. I was proud of the 50,000-odd words that I’d written, but I knew that it was full of structural problems, pacing issues, and even characterization. (Plus my main villain sucked. Like, really sucked.)
So, without further ado, here are the slightly less simplified steps to rewriting that first draft:
1. Get out a notebook, read over your manuscript, and take notes.
Take notes on every scene. Ask yourself, is this scene necessary? Is it well-written?
Take notes on any ideas you have for improving the story. Would it be better if the love interest was also secretly a spy? Great! Now you have an interesting subplot. Write it down.
Don’t get caught up in the little things. Does it say a character has blue eyes on one page and claim they’re green on the next? Are there a lot of grammar mistakes? Who cares. Is one of your characters consistently acting out-of-character? That’s a problem you should take note of.
2. Find what’s wrong with it.
There’s probably something wrong with your first draft. There’s probably a lot of things wrong. Are the characters flat/inconsistent? Is it rushed? Is the plot nonexistent/all over the place? Recognizing the problems is the first step to fixing them.
3. Re-Outline
Even if you don’t outline, after reading over your first draft, you should probably make one. Even if the plot of your first draft was perfect, you should still write down the progression of events and how they fit together.
This will help during rewriting, and also to work out any issues you have in the plot.
For me, this included brainstorms, timelines, and character arcs.
4. Take the salvageable scenes from the first draft and put them in a document labeled “Draft 1 Highlights.”
You’ll be very tempted to take the scenes you like and copy-paste them directly into the new draft. DO NOT DO THIS. Just don’t. Chances are, by the time you get to them, the story will be shifted. You’ll also limit the freedom of taking the plot in a better direction if you feel obligated to include pre-written scenes.
Make sure to hold onto the first draft. I’ve used the first draft as reference several times during the re-writing process, especially toward the end, where the first and second drafts overlap a bit more. Even so, even if the scenes are similar, never copy-paste. Open the first draft in a second window and look at it as you rewrite. Your second draft will be better for it.
5. Start writing.
You’re not going to get anywhere if you don’t start writing. When it came to my manuscript, I wrote about three or four first chapters before I found one that worked (and ended up using one of the earlier beginnings as a flashback later on.) And if you want, you can go out of order! It’s up to you, and everything depends on the level of revisions your WIP needs.
I hope this helps!
Little update on book 2: We're sitting at 12/26 (plus the epilogue, so 27 total) chapters edited. That's 88 pages out of 193!
Next steps are to finish going through the book by pen, then upload those changes, and then... start posting!
A small preview of what the process looks like..!
Ocelina Ocelot, introducing herself.
Tommorow my next Youtube video goes up!! I hope you all will enjoy it!! Its not exactly an animation, but its just a little edited thingy!
I have finished my latest video! Its not much, but Im proud of it!
Here's a little 2d edited project I've been working on! Its got a bunch of prehistory all in one drawing! Its got critters from the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic ,Cretaceous and so on and so on!! Its just a little edited progress timelapse to show all that's happened but I hope you all enjoy it!! Can you find your favorite prehistoric denizen?
THE SPIRAL OF TIME How many Prehistoric critters can you name in the Spiral?
Yesterday on April 2 saw
The Scarlet Claw (1944) Sherlock Holmes played by Basil Rathbone
There were funny parts so thought to edit it hehe
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Non-Copyright Track by
Amazing Plan - Silent Film Dark by Kevin MacLeod
This is how Ventus, Roxas and Xion were discovered and released much, much earlier than in canon. Also this was taken by MoM!Sora after he saw himself in a mirror, shattered it in fright at the sight, fled somewhere isolated at the edge of Daybreak Town to panic, then use the gummiphone like a mirror to figure out what happened to himself.
The stuff Xigbar said made sense okay! Even if he was a bad guy that’s no cause to ignore good advice!
As you can see I found a photo editor that meets my standards, If you have a edited photo you want me to add to this feel free.
i was filming a skit for a youtube video and i realized while editing that:
1: the camera was tilted on an angle
2: the green screen was not set up in the proper place
3: for one of the shots, i was wearing a green hoodie. in front of a green screen.
4: my old shitty squaky chair could be heard, sometimes being louder than me
5: i said some of my lines so quietly that they're unintelligible
my relationship with making videos is so 50/50
So I finished the first round of editing on the first book of my WIP trilogy. Absolutely relieved it's over - now on to the next thing! The second round of editing. So that's great.
This is incredibly accurate
editing is so fun. I'm learning what the story I wrote is about
guys i think i found incinaroar... its a little green tho
please watch my video and like and uhh subscribe and share and comment please please please please please pleeeeeease https://youtu.be/2aEmPWo1HFM
I edit smut over on literotica (for free!) so if you're ever in want of editing services on here or over there/another website, let me know!
I’ll start working on finishing a digital drawing of dishonored and I'll work on a traditional drawing too. also, I have started learning to edit so it may take a bit of time since im working my first big edit (fan edit of Ryan, I wanted to start with someone / something that didn't have as many fan edits.) and I wanna ask something so tiny poll but would you wanna see it?
I made it in 30 minutes, I love it
Writing (Editing?) Tip:
Struggling to get rid of amazing lines that're messing with the flow of your scene? Have attachment issues with your paragraphs? Don't delete them- make a separate document for scrapped writing and leave it there. I personally have a document for every WIP I've actually started writing for, dedicated entirely to the purpose of compiling lines, phrases, paragraphs, and sometimes whole scenes of my stories.
Do I ever come back to it besides when adding more stuff? Not really. Do I even remember what's in those damn documents? Absolutely not. But just that reassurance of "it's there if you change your mind" is so, so helpful when trying to let go so that I can move on and keep writing. It keeps me from getting all hung up about it because I get way too attached to the randomest things lmao.
TLDR: Don't kill your darlings, put them in storage!