Note about editing

Editing is different for everyone in the way that they approach it. Some already know what needs to change, and they start there and then dig around from there. But then there are some that already think that their work is perfect and that nothing needs to change. Until it's already too late and everyone's pointing out typos and what not.

I suggest a few things as we start this writing process:

1) Love yourself. I find that if my self-confidence is low for whatever reason, then approaching editing makes me feel even worse. I start battering myself with thoughts like, "Why couldn't I have thought of this in the first place?" or "How could I write this?! I'm better than that!" Thinking like this can--and has always been--destructive not only for the revision process, but for the sanity and self-confidence of yourself. If you love your words right now, just don't make the revising personal.

2) Accept that what you wrote is flawed. The words have made mistakes, but you're not there to fix them, you're there to make them the best that they can be. It's not about what you thought would be your favorite line. You have to be unbiased and uncaring. I know that most of us thought of our books as our babies (SO guilty of this...) but when you start editing, let it go.

I think at the beginning of NaNo, we had to trap out inner-editors in a cage and lock it up tight so that it wouldn't leak out so that we could get our novels done. However, some of us may seem to forget that we have to release them when we start editing. And when we release them, we have to put something back in the cage/box/cave thing. I suggest we put the emotional feelings we may have gained over the month. They won't help us while we're working. As Mycroft said in Sherlock (best TV series...EVER):

"Caring is not an advantage."

Of course make it the best it can be! Just don't make it personal.

3) Go as detailed or as vague as you want. If you just want to switch scenes, or chop every word, just realize that it's all fine. Just like you can write whatever you want, you can edit whatever you want. It's all fine. Just make sure that you catch those typos and punctuation errors, along with reading it aloud to find the grammatical errors.

I might add more as I go along. But that's what I keep in mind.