Not only have I been editing, I have also been exercising. And it tires a girl out. I feel really achey down to my bones. Also, there is a section in this book that I cannot bear to re-read. I just can't. I vaguely remember writing it--at one point my roommate walked in while I was caught up in a frenzy of pounding keys and uncombed hair and I think I shouted something like "DYING! EXPLOSIONS! AND DYING!" at her and she was forced to flee for her life, and I don't blame her--but it was hard, and it was action, and there were explosions, and I wish I hadn't done it sometimes. I do not want to edit this scene.
...
Ever.
Mainly because I do not want to re-read it.
Just edited 16 more pages. I think what that means is I have 2 more pages to go. Now I can go back to watching Singing in the Rain on pbs and eating cheese and being gross.
I think the reason I'm keeping this blog is because I want to make sure this is all happening, and also, having been practically raised on livejournal, I guess I believe in little signposts along the way. Here's what I did Saturday morning. And Saturday night. And here's what I think about it.
That sort of thing.
And maybe one day I can look back at it and remember a little of what I was thinking, if not the exact reasons why I was thinking it. I've really got to get used to editing, and slowly but surely I'm coming to love it, despite all my fears about dropping the ball. It's new to me, but so is actually finishing something to begin with. And these are all new things, when you think about it, and I'm just so happy to be doing them.
That's why I need these signposts. Every year I like to make a vow that the next year, I'll do something more, something "better," or at least something different and strange. (I used to say every month, but that's ridiculous.) I've been doing okay with that so far. Really okay. (Even if I have stopped exercising.)
Track changes.
I am uncertain as to how I did not know the "track changes" option existed until now. It would have been pretty useful for the first round of edits.
Final count.
Pages of my assigned editing actually edited: 30
Pages of my assigned editing left to go: 18
Pages of D's assigned editing left to go: 41
Hours D has been at work: > 5
Hours D has left at work: < 3
Pages total left to be edited: 59
Word count total: 147,000+
Pages total: 494
Keys broken on laptop: Shift, space bar, d, ., and 8
Keys worn off completely: a, s, d, n, m
Keys worn off halfway: c
Times shift key has popped off during this post: 4
Chances of edits being done by the end of long weekend: Cloudy with a chance of meatballs. Mmm, meatballs.
Editing is hard.
Editing is hard. But you know what? Writing is also hard, and editing is just a part of writing. That being said, this is the first time I'm actually looking forward to editing.
I have this feeling that the reason editing feels so much harder than writing is because you never "learn" how to edit the way you "learn" how to write. Not that I think writing is "taught" in terms of classes (ie writing workshops or what have you) but rather: writing is taught when you read. Rather, writing is taught when you read a lot. And the reason editing seems so counter-intuitive or just plain weird is because you never see a writer editing--you just see a book. You read the book. The book is words on a page forming (presumably) dialogue, descriptions, building characters and operating around the basic structure of plot. Never once do you see the editing steps. They are not there. You cannot, therefore, "learn" to edit in the same ways you might instinctively "learn"--through example--to write.
Okay. Whatever. But I'm editing. I just edited 16 18 pages. I have to edit 32 30 more. The first 16 18 weren't some of the more serious edits, so let's knock on wood--I'd do that, but the yuppie couple across the table from me keep indulging in PDAs and I'm not going to engage--and hope that when I get into the massive deleting, I can do to the extreme what I'd begun in earlier edits: erasing all traces of a romantic (sexual) relationship that exists between two of the four protagonists.
This allows me to write more Havemercy who, despite being made entirely out of metal, was one of my favorite characters, and I am so glad there gets to be more of her. She's quirky!
Oddly enough, though the aforementioned relationship was one of the original (shall we say) "staples" of the story as it was originally conceived, it's not that traumatic to see it go. It's actually sort of therapeutic. Losing this relationship as it is and turning it into something different opens up more emotional possibilities for the characters, and gives them more room to grow. (Wow that sounded cheesy, but it's actually the truth.) There was a conference call earlier today, and together we (D, T and I) worked through some possible directions we could take the small work-around, and the more D and I thought about them, the more excited we got.
So of course I took my laptop out to the Tea Lounge tonight, assuming that competition with some hipsters might make me even more pumped up to get this done. I was right.
Now if the man in front of me could just stop adjusting his penis...
