After writing the first draft it's a few days of editing. Just released a trilogy of crime novellas. Most of the book work such as writing, editing, formatting, book cover, publishing, I do myself. I'm happily self-published, have a great proofreader and flexible distributer with awesome support team.
Editing frightens some authors but there's no reason it should. I learned to love editing when writing non-fiction. It helped give an objective perspective, sense of what's relevant, what's robust or flimsy, what hampers the flow of reading and writing. For many writers it can be an emotional time.
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Heartless weeding out is needed, but I save the weeds in a separate text file. That way, rather than blatantly killing them, I fool myself into thinking I might want them again - which never actually happens.
Editing is possibly the best part of the writing process if satisfaction is the goal. It's a conduit for true beauty. The author can step outside the self, place aside desire and listen to the characters, the circumstance and the environment.
"The statue is already in the stone. The job of an artist is to bring it out" - Michelangelo
Editing turns a rough hacked-up work into a beautiful sculpture. The magic is in the process. Inspiration rarely strikes just by thinking about it. As a draft becomes a finished piece, the wrinkles are smoothed, knots worked out, characters developed, links established, solutions often sudden but always satisfying.
See also:
For awhile I took art classes at University of Guelph. The sculpture prof guided a student by pointing out strengths in her work.
"But that's not what I want," she said.
"It doesn't matter what YOU want," said the prof. "It's what the art wants."
She did what she wanted anyway, and her work broke into pieces. We felt bad for her, but the words still ring true.
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Sylvia Rose Art on Zazzle