Frustration Editing

Lavinia · 05-06-2008, 01:35 AM

Hi All! I usually hang out in the non-fiction forum or more often, in the freelance forum. But I also write for children. I have a manuscript for an early chapter book that I've been sitting on for quite some time. I sent it out to publishers several years ago to no avail...but I've learned SO much since then. My goal this month is to get it out there to publishers/agents.

Anyway- just wanted to report a little of my frustration. I just spent my morning editing my book. I was half-way there when I realized it was the WRONG one! Oh brother. That's what happens when you try all kinds of different versions for the same book; first person, third person, picture book, chapter book, etc.

I thought I had the right one but then realized this was the version where after writing it I realized it was really several books. So I wrote a smaller, simpler, more focused version...that's the one I SHOULD have been editing. Dang! What a waste of time. The good news is that the actual version I SHOULD have been working on was already mostly complete and ready to go.

Anyway- I'm sure no one can relate, as this is for sure, a "Karen-thing." (never heard of anyone making this kind of mistake before) But I feel better just pretending you all know how I feel. Sheesh! THanks for listening. ~Karen

timewaster · 05-06-2008, 02:29 AM

I have got into terrible muddles with mss because I tend to label them optimistic things like 'final' when they are no where near. I think the sensible thing is to number them, but I rarely do I tend to call them things like 'marversion' or 'newnewlily' so still get confused.
I usually call my submission version 'submission version' which helps a little...

Lavinia · 05-06-2008, 02:36 AM

LOL...glad I'm not the only one. The funny thing is that because of previous problems like this, I very smartly labeled the one I *should* have been working on with the name of the book and then "Book One." That should have been my clue, but it didn't work. I don't know. I haven't had the heart to go back to it yet. So frustrating. I may go get groceries and start dinner before going back to work on it. Thanks for the response. ~Karen

Angela_785 · 05-06-2008, 02:46 AM

Oh, I've done this before, so don't feel bad! I save a copy every time I make changes, so that if I want to, I can go back to a previous copy and see what I had written. This results in sometimes a dozen docs with similar names. At the time, I remember which one is the latest and greatest, but when I switch projects...aaaaahhhh!

Now I use the hover feature to see when they were last altered. This way I can see which one was the most recently worked on.

Lavinia · 05-06-2008, 09:05 AM

Ah, good to know! I don't save each and every one, but I've considered it. I thought I'd get too confused, but now I realize I was confused anyway. Oh well. ~Karen

Dreamer3702 · 05-06-2008, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lavinia

Anyway- I'm sure no one can relate, as this is for sure, a "Karen-thing." (never heard of anyone making this kind of mistake before) But I feel better just pretending you all know how I feel. Sheesh! THanks for listening. ~Karen

LOL I've done that before. That's why all my drafts have nice labels now.

EXAMPLE:
Red_draft_1
Red_draft_1.1 (edited when it wasn't completed)
Red_draft_1.2 (edited again when it wasn't completed)
Red_draft_2
Red_draft_3

Lavinia · 05-08-2008, 02:48 AM

Wow. That hurts my brain, just looking at your list. ~Karen

Jeffery E Doherty · 05-15-2008, 04:21 AM

My picture book, The Friendshp Treasures was on its 15th draft and that was before the editor asked for a wewrite...

JED

Trish · 05-15-2008, 06:15 PM

Haha I've done this. I wrote one of my, now chapter books as, short story, then, chapter book, then easy reader, then chapter book. I have so many revisions and my computer sent everything in funny places when I did a, defrag and disk clean. Now I will put dates on everything.

After so many re writes and it still isn't right. I've decided to leave it for a while and I've started another one.

Does anyone else have the problem that when you do so many re writes that you don't know what chapter you're in any more? or is it just me?

I sympathize Lavinia.

wyntermoon · 05-18-2008, 08:03 PM

I do that as well. I date my novel updates so that cuts down on some of the confusion but I still find myself working on an old version if I forget and start on the laptop instead of the big boy.

Chin up!

Danalynn · 05-20-2008, 11:32 PM

I have found that putting the date on each of my versions I save as back up definately helps me to identify WHICH one I should be working on, and which one I want to go back to if there's something I've re-written, but want to see how it was originally written.
(i.e. Someone Left To Love 5-17-08)

And I keep my files seperated. I have the actual MS I'm supposed to be working on by itself in it's own file, seperate from everything else, so when I send it out to Beta Readers, I know for sure I'm sending them the right version.

This has helped me a ton in staying organized.

05-06-2008, 01:35 AM	#1
Lavinia practical experience, FTW Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Pacific Northwest Posts: 1,410	Frustration Editing Hi All! I usually hang out in the non-fiction forum or more often, in the freelance forum. But I also write for children. I have a manuscript for an early chapter book that I've been sitting on for quite some time. I sent it out to publishers several years ago to no avail...but I've learned SO much since then. My goal this month is to get it out there to publishers/agents. Anyway- just wanted to report a little of my frustration. I just spent my morning editing my book. I was half-way there when I realized it was the WRONG one! Oh brother. That's what happens when you try all kinds of different versions for the same book; first person, third person, picture book, chapter book, etc. I thought I had the right one but then realized this was the version where after writing it I realized it was really several books. So I wrote a smaller, simpler, more focused version...that's the one I SHOULD have been editing. Dang! What a waste of time. The good news is that the actual version I SHOULD have been working on was already mostly complete and ready to go. Anyway- I'm sure no one can relate, as this is for sure, a "Karen-thing." (never heard of anyone making this kind of mistake before) But I feel better just pretending you all know how I feel. Sheesh! THanks for listening. ~Karen __________________ Breaking the Code: a Father's Secret, a Daughter's Journey, and the Question That Changed Everything (Sourcebooks 2011), http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Code-Daughters-Question-Everything Website: http://www.storymatters2.com NPR interview: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPl...71&m=142072750 Last edited by Lavinia; 05-06-2008 at 02:38 AM. Reason: typo

05-06-2008, 02:36 AM	#3
Lavinia practical experience, FTW Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Pacific Northwest Posts: 1,410	LOL...glad I'm not the only one. The funny thing is that because of previous problems like this, I very smartly labeled the one I should have been working on with the name of the book and then "Book One." That should have been my clue, but it didn't work. I don't know. I haven't had the heart to go back to it yet. So frustrating. I may go get groceries and start dinner before going back to work on it. Thanks for the response. ~Karen __________________ Breaking the Code: a Father's Secret, a Daughter's Journey, and the Question That Changed Everything (Sourcebooks 2011), http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Code-Daughters-Question-Everything Website: http://www.storymatters2.com NPR interview: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPl...71&m=142072750

05-06-2008, 02:46 AM	#4
Angela_785 Mmmm..brains... Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Canda Posts: 1,137	Oh, I've done this before, so don't feel bad! I save a copy every time I make changes, so that if I want to, I can go back to a previous copy and see what I had written. This results in sometimes a dozen docs with similar names. At the time, I remember which one is the latest and greatest, but when I switch projects...aaaaahhhh! Now I use the hover feature to see when they were last altered. This way I can see which one was the most recently worked on. __________________ Struggle with description? My BLOG can help! Showing EMOTION through character ACTION: The Emotion Thesaurus Listings of the SIGHTS, SMELLS, TEXTURE, TASTES & SOUNDS of common SETTINGS: Setting Thesaurus Find descriptive COMPARISONS/CONTRASTS: Colors, Textures & Shapes Thesaurus Discover the perfect SYMBOL to infuse into your description: Symbolism Thesaurus

05-06-2008, 09:05 AM	#5
Lavinia practical experience, FTW Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Pacific Northwest Posts: 1,410	Ah, good to know! I don't save each and every one, but I've considered it. I thought I'd get too confused, but now I realize I was confused anyway. Oh well. ~Karen __________________ Breaking the Code: a Father's Secret, a Daughter's Journey, and the Question That Changed Everything (Sourcebooks 2011), http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Code-Daughters-Question-Everything Website: http://www.storymatters2.com NPR interview: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPl...71&m=142072750

05-08-2008, 02:48 AM	#7
Lavinia practical experience, FTW Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Pacific Northwest Posts: 1,410	Wow. That hurts my brain, just looking at your list. ~Karen __________________ Breaking the Code: a Father's Secret, a Daughter's Journey, and the Question That Changed Everything (Sourcebooks 2011), http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Code-Daughters-Question-Everything Website: http://www.storymatters2.com NPR interview: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPl...71&m=142072750

05-06-2008, 02:29 AM	#2
timewaster present Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Richmond UK Posts: 1,466	I have got into terrible muddles with mss because I tend to label them optimistic things like 'final' when they are no where near. I think the sensible thing is to number them, but I rarely do I tend to call them things like 'marversion' or 'newnewlily' so still get confused. I usually call my submission version 'submission version' which helps a little...

05-15-2008, 04:21 AM	#8
Jeffery E Doherty figuring it all out Join Date: May 2008 Location: Bathurst, Australia Posts: 95	My picture book, The Friendshp Treasures was on its 15th draft and that was before the editor asked for a wewrite... JED __________________ Jeffery E Doherty Write Tight! And power to your keyboard! http://jefferyedoherty.googlepages.com/home The Friendship Treasures - PB (Submitted) Ty Tucker and the Terrible Two-headed Toynapper - Story (Submitted) Ty Tucker and the Wish Weaving Wonder-Box - Story (Submitted) Ty Tucker and the Dinosaur Dig Discovery - Story (Submitted) Eyes In The Dark - YA Fantasy (Reviewing) The Zoo- Junior fiction NaNoWriMo novel (In-progress)

05-15-2008, 06:15 PM	#9
Trish practical experience, FTW Join Date: May 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,103	Haha I've done this. I wrote one of my, now chapter books as, short story, then, chapter book, then easy reader, then chapter book. I have so many revisions and my computer sent everything in funny places when I did a, defrag and disk clean. Now I will put dates on everything. After so many re writes and it still isn't right. I've decided to leave it for a while and I've started another one. Does anyone else have the problem that when you do so many re writes that you don't know what chapter you're in any more? or is it just me? I sympathize Lavinia. __________________ My blog: http://trish-mollygumnut.blogspot.com/ http://childrens-books-author-p-puddle.com/ The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar, and familiar things new. JOHNSON

05-18-2008, 08:03 PM	#10
wyntermoon It all started with a little boo... Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: NoVa Posts: 4,622	I do that as well. I date my novel updates so that cuts down on some of the confusion but I still find myself working on an old version if I forget and start on the laptop instead of the big boy. Chin up! __________________ website \| facebook \| twitter \| girls' ghost hunting guide \| zombie tarot

05-20-2008, 11:32 PM	#11
Danalynn NEVER give up!!!! Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Troy, Ohio Posts: 806	I have found that putting the date on each of my versions I save as back up definately helps me to identify WHICH one I should be working on, and which one I want to go back to if there's something I've re-written, but want to see how it was originally written. (i.e. Someone Left To Love 5-17-08) And I keep my files seperated. I have the actual MS I'm supposed to be working on by itself in it's own file, seperate from everything else, so when I send it out to Beta Readers, I know for sure I'm sending them the right version. This has helped me a ton in staying organized. __________________ * That's a point well put, and a timely suggestion that we'll bring up at the very next board meeting a week from Tuesday . . . I don't know why, it's just policy * Last edited by Danalynn; 05-20-2008 at 11:36 PM.

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