RWT: When the H*ck Can I Finally Stop Editing?

I am here today to speak to everyone suffering through my least favorite part of the writing process: Editing. We all know about this accursed task, and I'm willing to bet we've all participated in it more than once. 

Unfortunately, editing is important. We'll get into why later. First, let's look at the different types of editing real quick, just for some background.

I tried googling the different types of editing and got WAY too many results (like nine or something), so I'm going to be original and try to explain it to you in my own words, without using the official internet definition as a jumping-off point like I usually do. 

When I think of editing, I break it up into these three types. 

Type One: Editing for Content

This basically means I read through my fully written book and mark plot holes, confusing situations, or just things I need to double-check (like a character's eye color or something). Notice I said the book should be fully written before Type One Editing (at least that's how I like to do it). I try to wait until the draft is fully written, even if it's a REALLY rough draft, before I go in to sharpen up the little details. This also works great for things like foreshadowing. (It's way easier to go back and hint at your ending once the ending has actually been written) 

Type Two: Editing for Grammar

This one is pretty self-explanatory and not too difficult, especially now that so many computer programs check for grammatical errors on their own. They don't catch everything though, so I would recommend (again, once your rough draft is finished) going through a few times to fix all the places you have you're instead of your, it's instead of its, or to instead of too. 

Type Three: Editing for Fluency

I always save this type for last because, at least for me, it takes the longest. For this type of editing, now that all of my content and grammar look pretty good, I go back through and just try to make my sentences flow a little more smoothly. For example, one of the biggest things I look for and try to remove is word repetition. It's one of my pet peeves, in fact, I wrote a post about it here. If I come across a sentence in my draft that uses the word Human twice, or heaven forbid three times, I start rearranging and replacing to make it read more smoothly. Aside from repetition, I'm sure you all know what it's like to read a sentence you wrote and just think, ugh, that sounds yucky. Well, Type Three editing is the time to fix it!

Now some people are able to go through and do all three types of editing at once. Unfortunately, mere editing mortals like myself are not always capable of such sorcery. If you're new to editing, I would recommend trying to do one at a time first, just so your eyes and brain can get more comfortable with what they're watching out for. Feel free to mix it up later and do whatever works best for you!

Like I said though, I'm still stuck in one-at-a-time mode, which means editing takes me FOREVER. It also doesn't help that I'm such a perfectionist. I hate the idea of anyone reading my work and finding mistakes or being unsatisfied in any way. This means I tend to edit, and edit, and edit some more. I especially find myself getting stuck on Type Three editing, since I demand every sentence achieve its maximum fluency potential. 

I told you earlier that editing is important, and it is, whether you're a perfectionist or not. Good editing is especially necessary if you're trying to snag an agent, or if you're self-publishing. Poorly edited work, or work that clearly hasn't been edited at all, is going to be a major turn off for most readers, whether they are agents or people writing reviews for the book you self-published on Amazon. 

That brings us (finally, geez) to the initial question I posed in the title, when do you stop editing?

Well, I would say there's no such thing as too much editing, but I actually think there is. If you're a perfectionist like me, you might be holding yourself back by refusing to let anyone read your work until it has been edited to literal perfection. This could be seriously stalling your writing career, so if you think you might be in a self-induced editing rut right now, you should sit down and have a conversation with yourself about what's going to happen next. I've found it helpful to give myself goals or deadlines. Something like, I'm only going to read through my rough draft three more times, editing as I go. Once I finish the third run-through, I'm sending it out to some agents. Decide what you need to do to bust out of that rut, and go for it!

If you're the opposite of an editing perfectionist, not a slacker, but just someone who isn't very crazy about editing, you have some options too. You could hire an editor, use beta readers, join a writer's group, anything that will help get your editing done, whether it's you or someone else doing the editing.

Now we're left with the people in the middle. You're not slackers and not perfectionists, just writers chugging through their edits and wondering when enough is enough. To be completely honest, there is no perfect amount of editing (at least not one that I know of). I would definitely say it's better to over-edit than under-edit, but how do you know when to stop editing and move on to the next stage?

I think the best way to determine this is through a two-step process. First, ask yourself one very important question: Am I proud of this work? If you are, if you're truly satisfied with the effort you've put into it and happy with the product sitting in front of you, move on to Step Two, getting a second pair of eyes. This is called a beta reader (check out my article on beta readers here), and it can't be just anyone. The most important quality in a beta reader is honesty. You need to find someone who is willing to read your work and give you the cold hard truth. Someone who can say, I loved the first half, but the second half was so confusing, I got completely lost. Someone who can say, Your plot was to die for, but your grammatical errors were out of control. Someone who can say, this is perfect, it's ready, or, keep working at it and come back to me. 

Better yet, get more than one beta reader. If they're all saying, hmm, not quite, you know you need to put your editing pants back on. If they are all super happy with your work, then feel free to tackle the next phase with confidence.

So I'm sorry to say there is no magical number of edits before you can submit your work to whatever publishing route you choose. I wish it were that easy, but no two writers are the same, which means no two rough drafts are the same. They all need different amounts of TLC before they're ready to go out into the world. It's up to you to decide how much, but getting some help can be invaluable, and I definitely recommend it.

As always, hit me up with your questions, comments, etc. Thanks!