Welcome to my weekly author blog hop answer!
TODAY’S QUESTION IS: What do you do with your edits?
Question provided by affiliate author Amy Romine.
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How to play: Your host: Sassy Brit of Alternative-Read.com invites all writers (published and unpublished) to:
1. Grab the above AUTHOR BLOG HOP logo
2. Write your blog post in answer to the weekly “writing related” question and publish on your own blog
3. Go back to the CURRENT blog hop and leave your link in the Linky Tools (or comments if you have trouble)
4. Hop from blog to blog meeting and greeting the other participants on the list.
HINT #1: It’s helpful to leave your link in comments you leave on other blogs if you are also participating in the blog hop for quick and easy reciprocal comments.
HINT #2: The questions are uploaded to the Blog Hop Guidelines page in advance, so you can plan and write your answer ahead of time and publish your blog post on Thursday.
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Another great question, so here’s my answer.
I’d like to say I burn the living daylights out of my edits for the crap that they are with a satisfying smile, after all I’m gettting rid of the bits I don’t like, right? But that would be a lie, and something I made up just to be funny. In truth, I can’t bare to part with anything even when they’ve been removed from my manuscript. They might, with a bit more editing, come in useful later.
For edits I remove from my WIP on the computer I take them out and put them onto another document, named “Edits removed and not used”, so there is absolutely no doubt in my mind when I go back to that page, what it is. I like to be organised. 🙂 I really dislike discovering documents where I have written stuff and I have no idea what it is, or where it’s from, or if I have used it already. A mess, basically.
However, since I do much of my writing by hand at first, I usually have a great big wad of paper with lots of scribbles on, of which I transfer to the computer. From this, I’ll copy what I need and then strike through each single sentence, paragraph or page used, so it is very clear what is left untouched has not been used in my story. And I keep everything. All my notes, brainstorming sessions, word clustering, character profiles and heaps more. Not totally a silly thing to do when writing a series, because what I don’t use may go into another book, plus most of my notes are then all ready for subsequent books.
What do you do with your edits? I bet most of you save them in some shape for form, after all, words for writers are pretty precious things.
Don’t forget I’m chatting tomorrow over at alternative-read Yahoo chat group in the evening until around 10pm. Do come and join me and the other authors attending!
Hugs,
The Smut Hut | Angelika Devlyn | Author of Erotica 
I keep all the edits I do on each book…I have no idea why but I do…
There is something weird about why we do this without a complete reason! 🙂
It is hard parting with words. After all the gruelling work in compiling them, there is a sense that they are yours to own.
Exactly, cutting words is not so bad, but totally deleting them… makes me squirm with horror at the thought!
I’m pretty sure none of us like edits. I keep copies of my manuscript every step of the way. I’ve often had the editor and line editor offer conflicting views. It helps to have proof to wave in their faces. 🙂 I used to edit and I can’t think of a more thankless and time consuming job. My hat’s off to anyone who undertakes such a demanding position.
LOL Yes, I like that, proof to wave in their faces LOL. Yes, I can imagine an editor’s job is very demanding.
I agree with what all of you say and words are like a part of me so maybe that’s the main reason I hold on to all of them.
Absolutely, Lu!
My novel ALEX (my very first!) is coming out soon from Solstice Publishing. I have whole scenes I cut out, and am now wondering if I can’t somehow use them on my blog. I never throw anything away!
You own the copyright to those uncut scenes, yes, you can certainly do what you want with them, and share them with your readers on your blog! Great idea!
Interesting. I keep all of my edits also. Why? I have no idea. Maybe because it’s a learning process or maybe, because like Ginger said, when I see something conflicting from line editor, I can show it wasn’t me who suggested the change.
I don’t think any of us know why!!! How odd, Roseanne. 😉
I save my edits too…If I cut some descriptive passages or change a POV, I save that stuff for future use. Ummm, so far the future has not afforded me an opportunity to use that material. But don’t you know, if I delete the file then I KNOW I’ll need it! LOL..
Yes! Sods Law 😀