The first draft of Sirens (Frigid Nights) has been done for quite a while now and I’ve been doing some terrible slacking with the editing. I’ve been putting it off, avoiding it, and acting like I don’t have to do it because, well, it’s overwhelming. I know there’s a crazy amount of things that need to be fixed and changed but because I know there’s so much, I get paralysis by analysis and am hesitant to work on it. I’m slowly breaking free of that.
One editing method I’ve heard of for the first edit is to print out the manuscript and read through it for major plot holes and fuck ups. This way, you’re not wasting your time correcting the grammar on entire sections you may just cut later anyway (which was what I was doing…). I’ve moved all my most recent edited copies into a folder with the rest of the manuscript and will be printing the whole thing out and doing one full read-through. After that, I’m going to try to tackle as many plotline issues as I can before delving into the language of the manuscript. Obviously, not everything is going to be perfect but nothing is. I also think it’s better to have an average book you’ve completed and than to have a masterpiece left unread.
I’ll let you know how this method works for me and what good comes of it. Sounds promising. I also have a few beta readers lined up to help me with it in the later stages which should help greatly.
Drew Schroeder 