Editing Update: Fantastic Feedback!

Having a second set of eyes read over my work is extremely helpful. I can’t even express how much weight is lifted from my shoulders after receiving feedback from my editor (or even a beta reader).

I sent in a scene to my editor over the weekend that I had been stuck on it since August. After a month of wrestling with it I finally sent it to her. I wish I’d sent it sooner because her feedback cleared up everything I was struggling with! She pinpointed sections that I myself was unhappy with and provided solutions to how to improve (or remove) them. She also noted the sections within the scene that were stronger and pointed out that if I added a little more emphasis to those sections it would make the scene flow better and be stronger as a whole.

I’m so happy. I feel like I can breathe again. Sure, there’s still a lot to do in regards to editing but I’m grateful for the insight she provided.

Art by @nuggiedraws

Editing Update

I sent my scene to my editor. I ended up reading it over a few more times just to make sure it fit. Hopefully it works as a replacement…otherwise, that’s okay. I’m fine either way.

My goal for the rest of the day is to keep editing Chapter 22. I’ve made a lot of progress and I still have a lot to do on my reference journal but so far so good.

I’ve also been reading a lot this week and adding books to my wishlist. I think reading is actually helping me with my editing as well. The things that I see in the passages I read, really hammer in what my editor has been pointing out. I understand where my strengths are and where I need to improve.

Well, back to editing!

Oh! Since this is a short post, I’ll share a song.

I took this one from my character D’s playlist. I’m also a big fan of this album by Alizée. It’s fantastic!

Book Talk Episode 15: Editing Update and Character Playlists

In today’s blog post, I’m going to be sharing a song from one of my main character’s playlists. I Go Hungry, by Mother Mother is his “morning routine” song. This song really captures his teenage years.

In a strange way, my characters introduced me to this band and many others that I am now in love with. I love making playlists for my characters, some of them even have more than one.

I was reading through my editors comments and squealing because her suggestions are fantastic. I loved this one thing that she added in, where she had one of my characters do the simplest action…it was a three word difference and it made the entire scene perfect! Exactly as I’d imagined.

Actually rereading the scene had me blushing, because it was adorable. It was one of those rare moments where my characters are seen together, just enjoying each others company. They weren’t worried about all the things going on in their lives…they were just having fun.

So far, I’m liking this deep dive editing process. It’s a lot of work. I’ve made colour coded notes for myself so I can keep track of everything. Even so, I like seeing my editors thoughts on each scene, and getting her insight on different aspects of the story. She picks up on things I missed in my earlier edits and I am very grateful for it.

Well, I’d better get back to editing. I think I’ll share another song off one of my character’s playlists.

On her playlist, Poison by Sick Puppies is her “outlook on life” song.