Editing and checking a story

[Etienne]

I have read the stories on the Nifty archive for a number of years and have always been appalled at both the sloppy spelling and sloppy grammar in so many of the stories that I have read.

 

This has prompted me to be extra careful with my own production, and I check things and then check them again. Every time I go back through a chapter, I find some little thing that needs to be tweaked or fixed.

 

Question - how do you decide that you have done all there is to be done in fine-tuning and checking a story?

[lurker]

I agree that there is definitely a time to "let go" - even if you would want to keep playing with the piece. And that's it's VERY important to get outside feedback on when something is really 'done.'

 

I just want to add that it also helps to put something you've written down for a while and come back to it at a later date. This technique helps you have appropriate perspective that you may lack if you try to evaluate your own work critically when you just finished writing it.

[Empathy]

I can always go back and find something. Especially if I leave things for a week or more and then comeback to it. I end up reworking things and finding mistakes I overlooked.

 

 

I could actually use an editor for my story.

[LittleBuddhaTW]

Question - how do you decide that you have done all there is to be done in fine-tuning and checking a story?

 

When Kitty tells me!

 

But seriously, there are always things I want to change, or re-work, or add, or delete ... but as Lurker said, you get to a point where you just need to let it go. The process of me writing a chapter (or short story) starts with me writing the original draft, then sending it off to my editor (Kitty), during which time I'll think of things that I don't like and want to change. Then, I'll get the first draft back with corrections and suggestions ... sometimes I'll just stick to those if I haven't thought of anything else I'd like to add or change, and other times I'll change quite a bit. The chapter/story then goes back to Kitty for a second check, then back to me again. Sometimes I'll just make the corrections that Kitty has suggested, and other times I might change a little more. But after that, I post it, otherwise I'd be re-working and re-writing until the cows came home. I'll only go back and change something after it's been posted if it's a mistake (like a person's name has suddenly changed to something else part way through a story ... ).

 

But, anyway, editors are important. Not only to fix stupid mistakes, but just having a fresh set of objective eyes helps a lot. Kitty has picked up on things or thought of things that never would have crossed my mind. Just like in the "real" writing world, every author needs an editor.

[JamesSavik]

There are a couple of books on this subject that you may want to look into:

 

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Browne & King. It is by Harper-Collins, 2004. ISBN# 0-06-054569-0

 

The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman. Simon & Schuster, 2000. ISBN# 0-648-85743-X

 

Both are highly regarded and are sometimes used in writing classes and seminars.