Editing Embarkation

Well, I've been saying it for weeks. Now it's time to pay up or shut up, and since I've never been particularly good at shutting up, I guess I better just do it.

I write pretty slowly, and I outline thoroughly prior to writing. While I write, I also maintain an Excel spreadsheet with all the scenes being updated as I write them. All of this combines into what I consider a pretty passable first draft. I never call them "rough drafts" because they really aren't that rough. They are usually internally consistent, grammatically correct, and wholly complete. That doesn't mean they are done, but it means they need a hell of a lot less work than they could. (Does this save me time overall? No, probably not. Like I said, I write sloooowly!)

Which is my little pep talk for gearing myself up for an edit. It can't be that bad...right?

I am planning to basically do my own version of Holly Lisle's one-pass revision method. I've got my printed copy all ready to go, and I am preparing my nerves. After a brief (BRIEF, self, BRIEF!) Target run to get some shiny new pens, I'll be butt-in-chair, ready to go. Kill my darlings, or breathe more life into them, or whatever it takes to make novel 6 a ready-to-submit gem of a work.

And, just for funsies, a wordcloud of the 200 most common words in my first draft.

My favorite are the random letters from contractions—ll is a top 200?!

Hm, wonder who the main character is? (There is a reason the working title for novel 6 is "Anna in Space"! Also, I need a new title. =\)