I had many concerns and anxieties
when finishing my first short story and the looming prospect of actually
submitting it to the world. It was what I wanted and I was really pleased I had
taken the step to self publish but the thought of it becoming real and not just
something I idly chatted about hit me in many ways. One of those
slap-myself-in-the-face who-do-you-think-you-are moments I want to talk about
here. Editing.
Okay, so I finished my story, I re-read and re-wrote it several
times; I gave it to some friends to read and give me feedback, I left it for
days and came back to it fresh and re-read it (several times); I printed it out
in a few different fonts and sizes and re-read it again. Then it got to the point
where I hated it and the thought of reading it one more time would make me
convulse and doubt my sanity. The moment came where I either published the damn
thing or forgot about writing forever. So I clicked the various buttons and
went to bed. In the morning I tentatively went on to Amazon and with equal
pride and happiness to horror and regret, saw that there it was, online and
available to the world. A couple of
weeks went by and I was busy working on my next story when I
started to get feedback from people, some of whom I knew and again to my equal
pleasure and fear, from people I didn’t. It was very exciting, there were lots
of questions about the story and theories on the character and elements of the
story and I was happy discussing it. I
decided to get a few copies printed so that I could refer to it and as I was
converting the file I flicked through it again to make sure the layout was okay
when my eyes glanced over a paragraph and my brain stood to attention…a spelling mistake. I closed my eyes and swore to myself before opening
them and swearing out loud. A spelling mistake! How many times did I read
through it and check it! And now it has been online for a few weeks with a
spelling mistake…and then I read the whole thing again and there were a couple
more spelling mistakes. It wasn’t a disaster but I was annoyed.
So
here’s the thing. What is the balance between getting your story out and not
delaying and taking the step to get professional help? I didn’t even consider
paying for editing services when I started because I thought that I was capable
of doing it myself, they were only short stories, how could I not deal with it?
I didn’t want to pay (even though I hadn’t checked to see how much it would
cost) and I didn’t like the idea of someone else reading it. I also thought
that as a beginner I was somehow allowed to get away with it. Sure enough I
continued to self publish the next two short stories without getting any
professional help. Now I am wondering if
I did the right thing. I told myself I could always revise the early stories
and get another edition out but do I really want to do that? Is that not a
convenient excuse for overlooking issues that should be resolved before
publishing? I convinced myself that I didn’t want to lose momentum by waiting
longer than necessary. But is that a reason to allow something not perfect to
go out under your name? I’m still undecided as I think it is a fair thing to
say that time is precious. I work full time so have evenings and weekends to
write and even though when you actually sit down and focus there is actually
quite a lot of time and you can get a lot done, you don’t want to waste it, and there is
something compelling about needing to write on your story with other things
become secondary. That’s the issue I am writing about today. I am a novice
writer and I have lots of short stories I want to finish and get out this year.
I am struggling to finish my current one as I have spent a lot of time working
on the promotional stuff, website, social media…this blog; which is great
because it is something you need to do and it benefits in the long run. So
shouldn’t I take that same attitude to the most important thing…the actual
quality of my story!
I was in contact with a ghostwriter/editor this week and it
reminded me of this subject. I can see now that I had fears about giving my
story away and somehow losing control of the plot, the character, the voice and
feel of the piece, as if somehow it wouldn’t be mine anymore. I think I need to
reconsider this. I still feel like I want to learn more about editing and
become good at it myself, as a tool, as a skill and as part of being a good
writer but working with an editor is probably a skill in itself.
I’ll post part two of this blog straight away for another take on
this subject. It is a guest blog by Karen Cole, Executive Director of Ghost
Writing Inc. a professional editor and ghost writer.
RGR
