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Why I Hate Editing my Own Work
I’m an editor and you know what? I hate editing my own work. I’m an editor and you know what? I hate editing my own work. There, I said it. I admitted it. I fucking hate editing my own work. It’s why a lot of my blog posts go up on the first go. There’s no rewrites, there are checks for spelling mistakes like a day later (or a week later…whoops), but there is no major editing. Maybe that’s why people who commented on my Huffington Post article called me illiterate or maybe they just couldn’t understand my conversationalist tone? Who knows, who actually cares? Initially, it was upsetting but…
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Editing Frenzy
One of the most important steps in any writer’s journey is editing and there are so many that don’t use editors, thinking that their own eye is enough. I’m here to tell you that it’s not. There are things that an editor can pick up that you can’t and that’s the hardest thing any human being can admit to, because no one wants to admit that they’re not perfect. I admit that even I’m not perfect, but I have learned that a second pair of eyes never hurt anyone, especially not my writing. So from today (the 12th of December) until the 23rd I’m slashing my hourly editing rate from $45AUD…
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Pay for Editing. Your Work Will Thank You
Why should you get your piece of writing edited by someone who’s knows what they’re doing? Better yet why should you pay for editing? What makes it so special? Editing is such a precarious object. It’s always so subjective, but why do you really need editing? Why not just outsource it to a friend who will give you feedback for nothing versus forking out money to get an editor to look at it? Why bother to pay for editing? Look at it this way: would you self diagnose your child with a heart problem just by their outward behaviour? Would you trust your partner/husband/boyfriend to fix the oven when it…
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Editing: Breaking It Up, It’s Time
Great writing comes with great technique right? Well…sometimes. Mostly it comes with really, really good editing. Today I’m here to talk to you about breaking it up and how it can work for you while you go through edits. And some may read this and go, duh, I knew that, but can you say that you really did it? Can you? If you’re reading this and still sitting here going: “Maybe later.” Then you need to get yourself moving and now. It’s the hardest part of writing anything. Or at least that’s how I find it. Others will tell you that writing something on a blank page is harder but…
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Crush That Internal Editor: NaNoWriMo Tips
I’ve had multiple questions about how I write as fast as I do and what I do and I think I’m just so used to it that I don’t bat an eyelash at it anymore. I think it’s normal, but I have to remember that not everyone has the same thought process as I do. Note to self: everyone is different, even if you don’t want to believe it. I love NaNoWriMo for so many reasons. One: it actually helped me edit less when writing initial drafts and let me enjoy the process of writing a story. Two: You meet some rad people and get to strengthen already rad bonds.…
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Tales from the Desk of an Editor
I have a little treat for you. One of the women I call my best friend and editor (you should remember her form here) Megan is back with some great questions about editing. I needed to pick someones brain and everyone else I know is a true writer to their core (even with all the flakiness and general la la about life). So here are some great questions that I felt you guys needed answered. I hope you enjoy it! And thank you to Megan for answering these. What is involved with editing? To me, it’s all about ensuring the meaning of the text is presented in a way that’s…
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Fully Awake Dreamer – Megan Hanson
Today’s dreamer is one of my gorgeous besties in Melbourne. She stumbled home with me after a night of tacos, dancing and cider and the rest is history. She is kind and caring and I’m dying to try and get some piece of writing from her, even when she thinks that she’s not great with fiction (I think you are!). She is an amazing editor and even managed to edit my questions ha! I love her for it. So without further ado I introduce today’s Fully Awake Dreamer: Megan Hanson. Tell us a little about yourself and what you write. I’m an editor at an educational publisher and a sporadic…
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Fully Awake Dreamer – Tom O’Connell
Today’s Dreamer is a writer who stumbled into my life when he entered a piece into the audio journal I was working on at uni (which is now my baby through my internship!) and someone who I wasn’t actually very close to until we started the back and forth commentary on our blogs! Amazing how things work out sometimes. He’s a really great guy and finally getting to introduce him to you all here! Tell us a little about yourself and what you write. I’m Tom O’Connell, a writer, editor and tea aficionado based in Melbourne, Australia. I once defined myself as a literary short fiction writer, but my tastes…
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Talking to Characters
So today is the start of a new week, one where I’m committing myself to getting back on top of my blog schedule. I was feeling burnt out because I was trying to do too much, again. I really need someone to come and clobber me over the head to tell me to stop doing that. I keep doing it. Damn. Today I had schedule time to do some rewriting of my novel before finishing up some B-School fun sheets but my creativity seemed to take a hold of the day and not let up. I’m totally okay with letting it do this. It’s been a while since I’ve been able…
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Editing Etiquette
I’m not sure what everyone thinks about the etiquette that’s involved with editing, and while I’m not an expert, I do know that there is something that they did touch on, very briefly, in my classes, is that you need to have a good balance when it comes to editing and the marks and all that jazz. Why? Well you’re are supplying possible changes, not trying to overwrite it to make it your own. I’m finding this excessively hard now that I’m in the process of editing a full length manuscript. My friend tells me that they like all those adverbs and every book I’ve read, every workshop I’ve done…