Copyright (c) 2010 by Toni Sciarra Poynter
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Endless Editing
A while back I tweeted something I often have to remind myself when I'm writing: There comes a point where you're not making it better; just different. Knowing when you've done enough is sometimes as hard as admitting you need to do more. Once my editor's hat is on, I can endlessly dither about whether I've found precisely the right word or phrase to do the job...or whether this metaphor is more affectation than apt comparison...or whether any of this is any good at all, and whether the fundamental problems I always feared lurked at the bottom of the piece might actually be there, and glaringly evident now that it's been polished (in the way that a drawing, poorly blocked in, just looks more and more wrong the more you develop it). Eventually either the deadline snaps me out of it or the cycle of anxiety collapses on itself and I come back to, "Just bang it out for now; move on through; trust yourself; you can fix it later (maybe); don't dither!" or any of the other prods that work from time to time. I'm curious what other people do to break that "endless editing" cycle???
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I'm not a ditherer by nature, so I can't say that I suffer much from this kind of second-guessing, but I do find that many of the authors I work with seem to have a problem with letting go--or finally birthing the baby, so to speak. What I tell them is something I was taught in my high school algebra class. I have no idea any more what it had to do with algebra but I've found it extremely useful for getting ditherers to move on. So here are the words of wisdom I share with them: It's a mathematical fact that if you keep walking halfway to the wall you're never going to get there. Try it some time--on yourself or a dithering client. It really works.
ReplyDeleteMy strategy, when I'm stuck or can't tell if I'm improving something or just making it different, is to do the best I can at the moment, put it aside, and wait at least a day to come back to it with fresh eyes. I often find that the answers to my questions are quite clear when I've had some time away from the material.
ReplyDeleteI ask myself, or the author: will this change help sell even one more copy of this book? Is it going to make any difference in the big picture? Sometimes this helps authors move on.
ReplyDeleteMy other trick is: when in doubt, take it out. That also keeps things moving!
I have a secret two-part technique for avoiding this problem. The two elements are (1) a deadline and (2) bills to pay. It works surprisingly well!
ReplyDeleteHey Karl, Nellie, Nan, and Judy - these are all great! I'd forgotten about Nellie's - but now I remember I used to use them when coaching authors to finish up and deliver (how ironic I've forgotten them when I need them--which I guess is why we all need editors)...and Karl is right - there's nothing like the prospect of a deadline (to misquote Twain, who referred to hanging) to focus the mind.
ReplyDeleteYes, and the "When it doubt, take it out" maxim can be applied to an endless number of situations, whether they're related to writing or not. I actually first heard it as "When in doubt, go without." Which covers just about everything: food, drink, unnecessary purchases -- all the good stuff.
ReplyDeleteSo true. I heard a very good novelist, can't remember who--I remember nothing, who said that?--interviewed and he said he could hardly stand to do readings because he just kept seeing stuff he wanted to change, what could have been better, or, as Toni points out, different. As an editor I often told authors that A was a better solution than B, even though either way would have worked, just to KEEP GOING! It doesn't work when I'm writing. I'm going to send this now without rereading.
ReplyDelete"A poem is never finished, only abandoned."--Paul Valery
ReplyDeleteI sometimes have Toni's dithering problem too. My solution is that I always go back through the manuscript a second time--for further editing, to catch things I've missed (a lot), etc. On my first go-round I have put a circled question mark in the margin for those things I couldn't resolve--and I almost always find that the second time around I can deal with whatever the problem was. And if not, then as some of you have suggested, I leave it as is.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see which posts generate the most comments. This one really seems to have hit a nerve. "When in doubt, take it out" have always been my "words to live by."
ReplyDeleteThese are such useful comments. I like Arnold's editing method, where he flags questions to himself that he tries to (and usually can) answer on the second editing pass. I do a similar thing and often find that with the larger context of the manuscript now firmly in mind, I can resolve them economically on the 2nd pass, or I realize I was sinking into the forest vs. seeing the trees and let it go.
ReplyDeleteOops - just realized I meant to say "sinking into the *trees* vs. seeing the *forest*" in my comment above - guess I was lost in the trees!!
ReplyDeleteYes, I do a similar thing, too. If I just can't decide between possible wording options (or whatever) I write the options above the problematic text and make a very light squiggle in the margin, which is easily erased. When I go back through later, one of the choices -- possibly the author's original wording -- usually leaps out as the best one.
ReplyDelete