Love/Hate relationship

spikeman4444 · Dec 12, 2014

There are times where I'll be reading/editing my work and literally the exact same chapter, the exact same page or paragraph or sentence that I love one night, I might hate the next. I'll think it's great and it works really well and then I'll sleep on it and read it again the next day or a few days later and think, no this is clearly not working. But I might not change it and I'll come back another day and think, well, then again it's actually pretty good.

It's not like over the course of a year where maybe my opinion/taste/knowledge changes drastically. I'm talking over the course of a week. Is this common? How can I possibly edit to the best of my ability if I can't even decide what I like and what I don't one day to the next.

CathleenT · Dec 12, 2014

I'd suggest simply taking a passage and editing it as each mood comes to you. See how it improves (or not) over time. Maybe take notes on which moods are the most productive for you.

I'd like to be more helpful. Sometimes, I come back and think something sucks, and later, I like it better. I keep on editing anyway. You reach a place where further edits seem counterproductive. Then it's time to get betas and start the whole thing over again.

Keep trying. You'll get there.

auzerais · Dec 12, 2014

I think you are probably not removed enough from your work to make major editing decisions a few days after writing. I try not to reread until I absolutely need to, which means until I need to remember what I've already covered, or until I am really ready to do some serious editing. Before that, the temptation to edit is great, and you can easily get caught in the vortex of rewriting one scene over and over again instead of actually finishing the story.

Honestly, I don't need to reread my work to swing erratically on the "I'm a genius"/"I'm a moron" pendulum. I can skip the extra work and go straight to loving/hating myself.

Jamesaritchie · Dec 12, 2014

I'm not sure what to tell you, except to say whether you love it or hate it doesn't matter a bit, and you need to avoid both when editing. Love and hate are right-brained, emotion feelings that do not change the quality of the work, good or bad. No writer is a very good judge of his own work, which is fine, because we don't have to be. Judging is an editor's job, not ours.

Good editing is left-brained. rational, and without emotion. Editing deals with the technical aspects of a work, and should work the same, whatever your personal feelings about the story might be. Write hot and emotional, if need be, but edit cold and passionless.

AndreaGS · Dec 12, 2014

I know what you mean. I love/hate my work--the same words--frequently, with gusto.

What's helped me, especially for revisions, is to take my work off of the computer and out of Word/Scrivener. That may mean putting it on your kindle, your tablet, or printing it out, depending on what works best for you. It helps me to see my work more as a reader and less with the eye of a nitpicky, crazy writer. It helps me to see the bigger picture: where the story slows down, what doesn't make sense, what phrases are jarring in the greater context.

Debbie V · Dec 15, 2014

It's not about the love or hate, it's about the why. Why does it need to be in the story? The words are there to serve the story, not for any other reason.

So:
Why does the story need this scene?
Why do the characters speak this way? Are these the only characters that could fill this role in the plot? Why?
Why is the story set in this time, place? Could it happen somewhere, or when, else? Is that other time/place more suited to the action/plot of the story? Why?
Why is this word a better choice than a word that means almost the exact same thing?
Why is this POV most suited to telling this story?
And so on.

smh1024 · Dec 18, 2014

Well, I can assure you that you're not the only one. I have gone through this with my story (a children's picture book) as well. I get into a good spot with it. I am really feeling positive and things are going great! Then the next day I open it up, thinking I am gonna continue on with that and I hate it. Usually, when I start hating it, I put it away for some time. It's typically about 2 weeks before I can look at it again. Also, I save ALL drafts. So, after I've hated it, I go back to my 2 most recent drafts and decide which one is "right". I find that I usually choose the one I previously decided I hated. lol.

Slow and steady wins the race, right?

Love/Hate relationship

spikeman4444

The snozberrys taste lke snozberrys

CathleenT

I write

auzerais

I like puppies.

Jamesaritchie

AndreaGS

Debbie V

Mentoring Myself and Others

smh1024