Editing Your Edits

“Twelve by Fourteen Square Feet” or the Importance of Editing your Edits

Do you know what 12x14 square feet is? No, probably not, since it makes no sense. 12x14 is a rectangle, not a square, and the subject of today’s monologue from One Writer’s Foibles.

Originally, the two protagonists in my novel, Mark and Jacques, were living in a 12 x 12 studio – I cleverly figured out at some point that the space was too small. It would be hard to have as much action going on in it as I needed, so as the writer/creator of the story, I changed it. However, I forgot to take out the “square.” My choices? Delay the book another couple of weeks and correct it, or decide to live with imperfection.

A difficult choice for a perfectionist with a deadline.

I also noticed a rogue apostrophe, some commas where I would prefer periods, and periods where I meant commas, and the word “sleep” instead of “asleep” – despite reading that sentence maybe 150 times in the last month. But my eyes were no longer seeing the words on the page.

At one point I read a section of the book, put it down, and thought, I have to rewrite the whole book. Why? I was “reading” so quickly (meaning: my eyes pretended to see what was in front of me while my mind went through the scene), that I decided the whole scene happened too quickly and the pace was all wrong. I had someone else read it aloud to me the next day, and it was fine. 

Conclusions:

1) Remember to edit your edits. If you brazenly make a change, go back and study the words around it to make sure the change was done properly. Then get someone else to take a look.

2) Get an additional beta reader at the last minute before you approve the final draft. Alternative: read it one word at a time, covering up the right side of the sentence with a ruler (but I’m not convinced even this will work).

3) Don't overanalyze. 

If you don’t do these things, you could be stuck in a room that's 12x14 square feet!