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JUNE QUESTION - For how long do you shelve your first draft, before reading it and re-drafting? Is this dependent on your writing experience and the number of stories/books under your belt?
MY ANSWER - It depends on my connection to the piece, my mood, and what editors are looking for at the time of completion. For example, one of the pieces I published with Chicken Soup for the Soul was actually a story I had written for another purpose some 20 years before, and edited multiple times. Another piece they published, I actually wrote and submitted a first draft to them - and received an acceptance within a couple of weeks (this rarely happens). I have some manuscripts that have sat waiting in my desk, or computer, for a decade or more because I know they are not ready - and neither am I. Some manuscripts have been accepted almost immediately upon reception. I think there is a combination of confidence in the tale, your readiness to part with the piece as is, and an editors desires or needs, that determines how long until you edit, and how many drafts you need before publication.
How about you? How long do you wait before editing?
4 comments:
I like to edit as I go...but I've realized through the years that I have absolutely no perspective and cannot see all the errors when I do this. For manuscripts I can wait a week or so before the editing itch starts and I give in.
I like to edit like I go like Leigh, but I still have to do major revisions. I think your idea of doing what you need for each manuscript is a good idea.
In other words, every story is different.
I like your comment about 'your readiness to part with the piece as is,' Maybe we sometimes beat a thing to death trying to make it perfect when we just need to let it go as is.
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