Camp NaNoWriMo Diaries: Days Nine to Fifteen – Editing Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

Dear Diary,

I apologize for spilling that gin and tonic … errr … glass of Kool-Aid on you the other day.  I’m glad you are now dry enough to write in so that I can chronicle the most recent events of this year’s July Camp!

It has truly been a great Camp so far!  I’m happy to report that I, as well as the rest of my bunk mates, have largely stayed on track for the entirety of these past two weeks!

There have been bad days, of course, but there have also been great days!

In the past seven days of diary silence, I have edited for a total of 8 and 1/2 hours, and added several hundred words to my first chapter.  In addition, I cut my back cover copy to 161 words (from somewhere like 500), found a better spot to begin my first chapter, re-added my previously nixed prologue and edited it, and edited a chapter for one of my fellow campers, who was entering the same Weta Nichols contest as I.

This brings me standing at nearly 75% of my Camp word count goal by the 15th, which is FAR, FAR better than I ever could have hoped!

And what about that contest?

Well, I edited my heart out for that thing.  I edited like I was sending those words to an agent I wanted to represent me, or to a publisher I wanted to publish my book.  Because if I make it to the final round of this contest, the acquiring editor for Samhain Publishing will read it to determine the winners.  And I looked up Samhain Publishing, and I think The Good Thing might, just might, be a fit for them once it’s complete.

So!  Might as well try as hard as I can to be a finalist, and as hard as I can to be a winner, and as hard as I can to make a good first impression so that maybe later someday, when I send the completed MS to them for consideration, I can mention the contest.

That’s the plan, anyway.

Boy, was it EXHAUSTING!  Editing like a fiend, cutting down flap copy, making a last minute addition, editing that, formatting appropriately per contest guidelines, creating a cover page, paying the entry fee, submitting everything just how they wanted … all before midnight on the 15th – which was the deadline.

WHEW.

I made it, though.  I made it!  And I’ll confess, I feel really good about it.  At least I know I did my absolute best for this contest.  But more than that, whatever happens with it, I feel really good about the results of my editing.

Oh, I hated it in the beginning.  I did it only grudgingly, reluctantly.  But then I got into the flow.  And I got excellent feedback from my beta readers, and the more I watched the story improve, the more I enjoyed editing.  I even found a better beginning to my first chapter, thanks to one of my beta readers, and even though it was a very small change, it made a huge difference in the interest-level of the text right out of the gate.

And that’s what it means to really edit.  Not just correcting grammar or spelling or typos or commas, but finding ways to maximize the storytelling.  To really, really make it shine.  Really make it as impactful as you possibly can.

Many times it takes other people to point this out, because as the story’s author, it’s hard for me to see any other possibilities except for what’s already there.  But once the doors are open, it becomes a little easier to explore.

And it became quite fun to see it grow and change, even if it was also many times frustrating and stressful.  (Although admittedly only stressful because of a looming deadline.)

In the end, this intense round of editing has made me come out the other side of it not only feeling good about the work done (and very relieved to have it over with for now), but I actually feel more in love with this story than I have in a long time.  While many other participants of Camp NaNo might be feeling a mid-month slump, I actually feel re-energized and re-motivated!

I am ready to begin generating new content again!

Bring on the rest of Camp!

<3 JRF