A CAGE CALLED REVISION: DISPATCHES FROM MY EDITING WEEK - DAY 1 + DAY 3 UPDATE + DAY 5 WRAP

Full disclosure: When it comes to fiction, I'm a total Casanova; always in love with my next conquest. "Write them and leave them" - that's the way my creative mind works. Considering the title of this blog and its Noir aesthetics, I could also say that, as a writer, I'm a bit of a fiction-fatale, a regular story-eater. [Don't worry; no more puns in this post.]

DISPATCHES FROM MY EDITING WEEK: DAY 1

Editing - sometimes, merely revising - long fiction is... boring. BORING.

I'm sure some writers enjoy it (or at least say they do), but I don't. Editing and revising in particular for long periods of time is... 

What's that word again? 

BORING.

No, actually, let's go with EXCRUCIATING instead.

When I write a short piece, editing just comes naturally. I can spend hours making a very short story or prose poem even shorter, or pondering a word swap. There's nothing wrong with searching for "le mot juste" - the one that, just like they say about some pictures, is worth a thousand (often, nonessential) words.

However, with long fiction - which, in this writer's parlance, is anything longer than a short story - my tolerance for editing/revising goes out the window and drops to the ground with a loud thud, pretty much like a lead balloon. [Yes, I just wrote that. According to my notes, I'm allowed one worn-out cliché per post.]

Full disclosure: When it comes to fiction, I'm a total Casanova; always in love with my next conquest. "Write them and leave them" - that's the way my creative mind works. Considering the title of this blog and its Noir aesthetics, I could also say that, as a writer, I'm a bit of a fiction-fatale, a regular story-eater. [Don't worry; no more puns in this post.]

What that translates to is, if I go back to an unedited story, either it is to turn it into something new-ish, or I get... bored. [I bet you saw this one coming a mile away.]

Acutely aware of this trait of mine, I tend to write-edit every paragraph, every dialogue in a story, before moving to the next line. It's a very slow process of producing fiction, of course it is; failing to adhere to this routine can have dire consequences, though. Like this week, with the novel I'm currently editing. 

What was I thinking, leaving this unedited for so long? 

Don't get me wrong: I do like the story, the protagonist, the sidekick, the love interest, everyone in it! All right, maybe not the antagonists. They're the kind of antagonists whose motivations you get but shouldn't approve of, so that's okay.

Editing/revising this novel is excruciating for me, also because I must refrain from using the process to turn it into a different story. I really mustn't do that. There's no time! 

Let's face it, the light I see at the end of this editing tunnel is not daylight at all; it's a freight train called Deadline, speeding toward me.

But it's true (well, for me): any idea can be turned into a myriad of slightly different stories. In that respect, stories are a lot like us and all the other living beings with DNA; what we see in the mirror is but a mere expression of our genetic potential. One expression. One interpretation of our DNA. We could've turned out slightly different, depending on many external factors. Epigenetics.

The same applies to stories, at least in my creative mind; each story is but one interpretation of an idea. Hence, my temptation to turn editing a novel into writing a new story. Not exactly 'brand-new' but definitely different from the one under my eyes and fingers. Experimentation is freedom. Revising is a cage. 

Time's up for that now, I'm afraid.

Back to the grind - and to Erik Satie. [I'll explain this later.]

From the revision cage,

Yours truly,

CE

DAY 3 UPDATE: THE HALFWAY HOUSE

Halfway there - 39 chapters revised so far - and I've managed not to turn the story into something completely different. Yay! Also, it has become painfully obvious that I'm a morning writer and an evening editor: my revising skills only really come out to play after sunset. [Revising may be akin to vampirism; who knew, right?😎] Anyway, if everything goes according to plan, I'll be able to wrap this up in just two more - excruciating - days. Fingers crossed! [My eyes already are.]

From the halfway house,

Yours truly,

CE

DAY 5: IT'S A WRAP!

It's done! Novel revised. I managed to eliminate an entire chapter and cut almost 10,000 words from that thing. Yes, very Scissorhands of me.✂ ✂ ✂

The book is out of my hands now. Free at last! [Well, temporarily at least.] 

Also: Not doing this again. Ever! [Until next time, of course.😎]

Yours truly,

CE