Journey of the moments #12

A quiet afternoon with my ongoing manuscript reminds me I must edit.  Having no problems with the structural editing, I wonder if I follow all the rules in  revising my novel would ruin the voice or the poetic language? As in the unedited version of A Rainy Heart, seen on the posts, will I jeopardize the true voice of the protagonist and the language rhythms if I enforce every editing tip?  What do you think, my readers and writers?

Published by

waterdove

Besides the love for arts, I am fascinated with words that depicted the human mind and heart. I live in southern California and spend all free time when not working to dream, read, write, draw, and paint. Please note that all my writings on Wordpress are unedited since I write the words as they appear in mind at the moment.

11 thoughts on “Journey of the moments #12”

  1. Do not enforce “every editing tip.” In my humble opinion, take a step back, try (as much as possible) to put yourself in the place of the reader … then read straight through. Does it sound good? Does it read well? Does it flow smoothly? And is it captivating and enjoyable as a novel … all from the reader’s perspective? Too much editing can be like trying to force a square peg into a circle. Just my two cents worth! 😉

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      2. You’re right. If I follow all the editing rules, then certain passages won’t sound like a song, a poem, or the sensitivity of the character, when I eliminate all the repetitions.

        Liked by 1 person

  2. Losing your voice can, and will, happen during the editing process.

    In my experience, part of it is our voice changes over time as we read, write, learn and relearn. Part of it is the monotone sea of advice on quality writing.

    There are tools, incredibly helpful tools, to aid the editing process. My first dabble led to the unfortunate side effect of breaking my coveted voice box. But that was just the first dabble! A few iterations later, I was producing higher quality drafts, Alvin voice and all, on the first try (or so I tell myself 😉).

    I documented that roller coaster, and summarized my advice, here:

    It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this.

    Write every day, edit every other day. That works for me, but your rhythm may be different, e.g. write-write-write and edit next September.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I am rewriting it as final draft now. So I should not edit everything right? Only check for typos, punctuation, etc. but not too much of structure as I will lose the voice especially with repeated words, which I want to make it poetic/mental state of protagonist, and so forth.. what do you think my friend?

      Like

      Reply

      1. I think you have a sound plan on your fingertips 😉

        The only thing I would add is for you to start reading creative writing advice on the side (overuse of passive voice, adverbs… and all that boring stuff).

        You won’t notice at first, but your subconscious learns and eventually your revision focusing only on voice will start making quality improvements.

        Our brains are a wonderful beasts! =)

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment