Editing

    I figured I'd give a quick update.  I've been working at my computer like crazy the past few days sorting through ideas for edits on Rose.  Between my followers on Scribophile and Husband of Mine who finally decided to read it, I've made quite a few changes. Nothing major to the story line, but I've seriously altered how information is delivered.
    Let me tell you, editing is psychotic.  It's so ridiculously confusing.  Your mind is everywhere because you've thought up so many different ways to write things and you don't remember what you wrote and where you wrote it and you're piecing together all these ideas, unsure if you've repeated yourself a hundred times or if that information got cut.

    A friend told me, "Editing is like putting together a puzzle that somehow has both extra and missing pieces".  Never have I heard a truer statement.  Wow.  I'd probably add that you're also putting together this puzzle upside-down and with one eye closed.

    The hardest job a writer has is remembering what actually got written into the story.  You'd think it'd be easy because I wrote it, right?  WRONG.  I've written it so many different ways in my mind that all the words and versions have blended together.  In rereading Rose, I've actually laughed out loud at some of the funny lines that my characters have because it was like I was hearing them for the first time.  I have no memory of writing them.
    As daunting as this puzzle may seem, writers, do not fear.  In editing, you are not alone.  You'll have friends and family, beta readers, and more opinions to piece together than you'll realize.  The best thing to do is to find some people who seem to know what they're doing and saying, some people you trust, and figure out how best to combine what you want with what they want.  You'll always figure it out.
    Sometimes that requires completely erasing and rewriting parts. Sometimes it just needs a single word change to best express what you want your reader to understand.  And sometimes you'll completely erase parts that don't have any point to being in your writing.
    Just don't lose sight of what you're getting at when you edit.  It can feel completely overwhelming because you have so many different ideas of how to do something.  But let's be honest, how is that any different than when you first wrote it down?  Just take it slowly and remember why you wanted to write the thing in the first place.  You'll get it done.
    ~Alyson