Editing is the Worst OR Why You Should Back Up Your Work
If you're new to writing, this may come as a shock to you, but you simply cannot edit your own work.
Thinking you can is naïve and laughable. I'm laughing derisively at you now.
I don't care who you are, how great you are at writing, if you have your master's in English, if you triple/quadruple check every word, if you never made a mistake on an English essay - It isn't the same as a BOOK and it isn't a second pair of eyes. Your mind will fill in the incorrect word with the correct one in your head. Your mind will trick you so you yourself NEVER notice the mistake.
Your mind autocorrects...
It's as if your brain is actively trying to help you, however YOU aren't the problem. Your readers are. Your mind will ignore every mistake and autocorrect it leaving your readers questioning your intelligence and whether you should keep your day job.
For example, I just learned that I spelled my protagonists name wrong, like, dyslexic wrong, about 20 times. I never even noticed, because,
A: My computer thinks "Calista" is a misspelling regardless, and,
B: Who thinks that they would ever misspell the name of their protag?
Editing RTS has been an adventure of face palms, heads slamming the keyboard (multiple) and hair pulling. Editing is not something I enjoy, it's like pulling teeth. The crazy part is that I enjoy editing other people's work. Flaws stand out to me like beacons of light blaring, "I'M WRONG!"
But my own writing? Yeesh. I attempt.
Recently, back in oh.. December, I was heavily editing RTS. I have a kick butt beta reader that's been forcing me to "show things" instead of you readers just *knowing* what a pretty sunset looks like... But also, plot hole scavenging and simply asking the right questions. He ba-zinged me as a double-edged sword ( I create beautiful scenes but don't describe them enough) and so I was meticulously looking over my work to add details and details and details, metaphors and similes. I changed an important piece of the story because I realized it simply wasn't necessary, I added imagery of palaces and sunsets. And then, I saw that I had two copies of RTS open at once. I chuckled to myself, "Now, why did I do that?" (Impatience. Slow computers are the bain of my existence. I'm the obnoxious person that keeps clicking that button over and over again because it's *thinking* and I don't care I want to start writing now.)
So I glanced over the two copies, made a decision and closed one. The first clue that I had made a mistake should have been when the computer prompted, "Would you like to save these changes?"
I, of course, said no. Because, silly little computer, all my changes are on the other document.
And that, my friends, is how I got into a fight with RTS. I deleted two hours of editing in three seconds flat.
I stared over my mistake and saw no turning back. This was edited off of an email. Not my desktop.
It was gone. All my effort, erased in a click of a mouse.
I sat in my chair stunned, mouth agape, pawing at the open version... hoping that if I scanned down far enough in the edits t changes would re-appear.
But they didn't.
And that was the last time I edited RTS. After that, every time I opened it I would get angry at the memory. I couldn't even look at it. I need to take a break and calm down. So we broke up.
I guess that is just a little anecdote on why you should save constantly and back up your work. But it is also a story about the struggle of editing.
Editing a book isn't easy. No one said it would be. But please, PLEASE, if you walk away with nothing else, learn from my mistakes. Have help editing your work and, for the love of GOD, don't edit off of an email.
Follow this advice, dear friends, and you will never have to break up with your masterpiece.
All my love,
L.B.
PS: I've already decided if there are any grammar mistakes in this I'm leaving them. Feel free to point them out. The irony is perfect.
Thinking you can is naïve and laughable. I'm laughing derisively at you now.
I don't care who you are, how great you are at writing, if you have your master's in English, if you triple/quadruple check every word, if you never made a mistake on an English essay - It isn't the same as a BOOK and it isn't a second pair of eyes. Your mind will fill in the incorrect word with the correct one in your head. Your mind will trick you so you yourself NEVER notice the mistake.
Your mind autocorrects...
Let that sink in... I'll give you a second.
It's as if your brain is actively trying to help you, however YOU aren't the problem. Your readers are. Your mind will ignore every mistake and autocorrect it leaving your readers questioning your intelligence and whether you should keep your day job.
For example, I just learned that I spelled my protagonists name wrong, like, dyslexic wrong, about 20 times. I never even noticed, because,
A: My computer thinks "Calista" is a misspelling regardless, and,
B: Who thinks that they would ever misspell the name of their protag?
Edmund
Editing RTS has been an adventure of face palms, heads slamming the keyboard (multiple) and hair pulling. Editing is not something I enjoy, it's like pulling teeth. The crazy part is that I enjoy editing other people's work. Flaws stand out to me like beacons of light blaring, "I'M WRONG!"
But my own writing? Yeesh. I attempt.
Recently, back in oh.. December, I was heavily editing RTS. I have a kick butt beta reader that's been forcing me to "show things" instead of you readers just *knowing* what a pretty sunset looks like... But also, plot hole scavenging and simply asking the right questions. He ba-zinged me as a double-edged sword ( I create beautiful scenes but don't describe them enough) and so I was meticulously looking over my work to add details and details and details, metaphors and similes. I changed an important piece of the story because I realized it simply wasn't necessary, I added imagery of palaces and sunsets. And then, I saw that I had two copies of RTS open at once. I chuckled to myself, "Now, why did I do that?" (Impatience. Slow computers are the bain of my existence. I'm the obnoxious person that keeps clicking that button over and over again because it's *thinking* and I don't care I want to start writing now.)
Me: "It's not working!"
I, of course, said no. Because, silly little computer, all my changes are on the other document.
And that, my friends, is how I got into a fight with RTS. I deleted two hours of editing in three seconds flat.
I stared over my mistake and saw no turning back. This was edited off of an email. Not my desktop.
It was gone. All my effort, erased in a click of a mouse.
This is your fault.
I sat in my chair stunned, mouth agape, pawing at the open version... hoping that if I scanned down far enough in the edits t changes would re-appear.
But they didn't.
And that was the last time I edited RTS. After that, every time I opened it I would get angry at the memory. I couldn't even look at it. I need to take a break and calm down. So we broke up.
I guess that is just a little anecdote on why you should save constantly and back up your work. But it is also a story about the struggle of editing.
Editing a book isn't easy. No one said it would be. But please, PLEASE, if you walk away with nothing else, learn from my mistakes. Have help editing your work and, for the love of GOD, don't edit off of an email.
Follow this advice, dear friends, and you will never have to break up with your masterpiece.
All my love,
L.B.
PS: I've already decided if there are any grammar mistakes in this I'm leaving them. Feel free to point them out. The irony is perfect.
Oh no! I've done that once before. No. Make that twice before. I've had that little pop-up come up and ask if I wanted to save and I panic every time now. "Logic says I should save, just in case. But wouldn't I have thought that same thing last time? If I did, then I would have clicked save and I remember that was the wrong choice. So I should click that I don't want to save... right? But what if I went through this thought process before and then clicked to not save because last time I thought about it logically then it lost everything, so I should..." It never turns out well.
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