Editing and the book growth problem

Steven Lake · 11-08-2010, 05:49 PM

I don't know if anyone else has noticed this of their writing, but when I'm editing a manuscript, it has this uncanny ability to actually grow in size, even if I'm doing large amounts of hack, slash, and burn. Have any of you seen this before? I'm not sure how many actually keep an eye on their word counts, but I like to do it.

It's like a car geek who keeps one eye on the road, and one eye on the tachometer. But in my case it's one eye on the text and one eye on the word count. lol. I know it seems odd, but I think it's just fun and intriguing to watch how the word count changes over the course of editing.

Anyone else do this? And do you see your word counts actually rise as you do your editing?

DavidRM · 11-08-2010, 06:14 PM

I generally find myself adding when I edit/revise. My first drafts tend to be a bit sparse on some things.

-David

ASparrow · 11-09-2010, 04:52 AM

This is generally true for me as well. My WIP's first draft was 60K works, now it's 87K and growing.

Luke King · 11-09-2010, 05:28 AM

I think I tend to add, though I've never kept track of it.

kcmay · 11-09-2010, 09:37 AM

My books tend to get bigger with each draft because my early drafts leave out setting and description. During the revision/editing phase, I typically cut words, though. I can get wordy at times.

dlmartin6 · 11-09-2010, 11:13 AM

I know during the editing process, my co-author and I, add in the background stuff - adding to the depth of the story. Letting the reader see, smell and feel themselves in a scene. Sometimes there's lots of words slashed, but these are mostly unnecessary and not adding anything to move the story forward. We usually end up with more words after a number of edits.

joycedb · 11-09-2010, 11:16 AM

I think that's fairly common. By editing, we take out the superfluous and flesh out what's left with pertinent facts we omitted the first time around. And the more you edit and revise, the better it gets. After awhile you learn what's necessary to the story and what's not.

Joyce

kcmay · 11-09-2010, 02:25 PM

Ahh. I don't call that "editing." I call that "revision." To me, editing is the last thing one does to prepare a book for sale or submission.

Steven Lake · 11-09-2010, 10:23 PM

I think my biggest thing is that I am doing a lot of hack, slash, and burn in my editing, whacking out large chunks of stuff that just doesn't work and either rewriting it, or just completely removing it, and yet the story still gets bigger. That just seems so counterintuitive to me. You would think that if you're subtracting a lot of things from the book because you told too much or got too wordy in sections that it would actually grow. Yes, I'm adding in a few areas here and there, but it never seems like I'm actually adding *THAT* much. That's why it seems so weird.

Luke King · 11-09-2010, 11:30 PM

I think the danger is that you no longer "see" what is there, and so you think you have to describe it at greater length or in a different way. I just hope I'm not repeating myself.

Steven Lake · 11-10-2010, 08:30 AM

That's why it's good to edit for a while, and then take a month or more away from the book to let your brain cool down and get refocused on the story again. Sometimes what I'll do is write on one book for a while, then move on to the next, and then another before coming back to it. That's what's so nice about having a "todo" list as long as mine is. You always have lots of variety in your writing to keep you from hitting that point of over indulgence in one particular book.

M T McGuire · 11-10-2010, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Lake

I don't know if anyone else has noticed this of their writing, but when I'm editing a manuscript, it has this uncanny ability to actually grow in size, even if I'm doing large amounts of hack, slash, and burn. Have any of you seen this before? I'm not sure how many actually keep an eye on their word counts, but I like to do it.

It's like a car geek who keeps one eye on the road, and one eye on the tachometer. But in my case it's one eye on the text and one eye on the word count. lol. I know it seems odd, but I think it's just fun and intriguing to watch how the word count changes over the course of editing.

Anyone else do this? And do you see your word counts actually rise as you do your editing?

I slash and burn, then I add intricacies to the plot and it ends up the size it was before - Few Are Chosen went from 120k to 90k to just over 100k.

Cheers

MTM

randyflycaster · 11-11-2010, 09:48 AM

I try to cut, especially after having people read my work and give me feedback. In fact, I actually edited - shortened - the print version of my book, then I published the digital version.

Randy

Enraptured · 11-11-2010, 11:22 AM

My books always get smaller when I edit them.

Tony_A20 · 11-13-2010, 05:40 PM

I like to think I plan my books carefully, preparing outlines and plot structure, so the editing stage is mostly cleaning up sentence structure, word usage, and correcting grammar. I seldom cut/rewrite more than a couple of sentences at a time. My main effort is directed at reducing wordiness, and making the story flow for the reader. I have found a text speaking application (TextAloud) very helpful in this regard.

The upshot is, I generally reduce the wordcount by 5%, and produce a better story.

Tony A

11-08-2010, 05:49 PM	#1
Steven Lake Sci-Fi Author Posts: 1,157 Karma: 14743509 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Michigan Device: PC (Calibre)	Editing and the book growth problem I don't know if anyone else has noticed this of their writing, but when I'm editing a manuscript, it has this uncanny ability to actually grow in size, even if I'm doing large amounts of hack, slash, and burn. Have any of you seen this before? I'm not sure how many actually keep an eye on their word counts, but I like to do it. It's like a car geek who keeps one eye on the road, and one eye on the tachometer. But in my case it's one eye on the text and one eye on the word count. lol. I know it seems odd, but I think it's just fun and intriguing to watch how the word count changes over the course of editing. Anyone else do this? And do you see your word counts actually rise as you do your editing?

11-09-2010, 11:30 PM	#10
Luke King Member Retired Posts: 173 Karma: 200000 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kindle 2	I think the danger is that you no longer "see" what is there, and so you think you have to describe it at greater length or in a different way. I just hope I'm not repeating myself. Last edited by Luke King; 11-09-2010 at 11:31 PM. Reason: spelling.

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11-08-2010, 06:14 PM	#2
DavidRM Addict Posts: 203 Karma: 1007768 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma Device: Kindle	I generally find myself adding when I edit/revise. My first drafts tend to be a bit sparse on some things. -David

11-09-2010, 04:52 AM	#3
ASparrow Addict Posts: 355 Karma: 600000 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Boston Device: Palm TX	This is generally true for me as well. My WIP's first draft was 60K works, now it's 87K and growing.

11-09-2010, 05:28 AM	#4
Luke King Member Retired Posts: 173 Karma: 200000 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kindle 2	I think I tend to add, though I've never kept track of it.

11-09-2010, 09:37 AM	#5
kcmay Addict Posts: 363 Karma: 500001 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Georgia, USA Device: Kindle2	My books tend to get bigger with each draft because my early drafts leave out setting and description. During the revision/editing phase, I typically cut words, though. I can get wordy at times.

11-09-2010, 11:13 AM	#6
dlmartin6 Debra L Martin Posts: 79 Karma: 114 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Greater Boston area Device: Kindle	I know during the editing process, my co-author and I, add in the background stuff - adding to the depth of the story. Letting the reader see, smell and feel themselves in a scene. Sometimes there's lots of words slashed, but these are mostly unnecessary and not adding anything to move the story forward. We usually end up with more words after a number of edits.

11-09-2010, 11:16 AM	#7
joycedb Guru Posts: 997 Karma: 1086596 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Florida Device: none	I think that's fairly common. By editing, we take out the superfluous and flesh out what's left with pertinent facts we omitted the first time around. And the more you edit and revise, the better it gets. After awhile you learn what's necessary to the story and what's not. Joyce

11-09-2010, 02:25 PM	#8
kcmay Addict Posts: 363 Karma: 500001 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Georgia, USA Device: Kindle2	Ahh. I don't call that "editing." I call that "revision." To me, editing is the last thing one does to prepare a book for sale or submission.

11-09-2010, 10:23 PM	#9
Steven Lake Sci-Fi Author Posts: 1,157 Karma: 14743509 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Michigan Device: PC (Calibre)	I think my biggest thing is that I am doing a lot of hack, slash, and burn in my editing, whacking out large chunks of stuff that just doesn't work and either rewriting it, or just completely removing it, and yet the story still gets bigger. That just seems so counterintuitive to me. You would think that if you're subtracting a lot of things from the book because you told too much or got too wordy in sections that it would actually grow. Yes, I'm adding in a few areas here and there, but it never seems like I'm actually adding THAT much. That's why it seems so weird.

11-10-2010, 08:30 AM	#11
Steven Lake Sci-Fi Author Posts: 1,157 Karma: 14743509 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Michigan Device: PC (Calibre)	That's why it's good to edit for a while, and then take a month or more away from the book to let your brain cool down and get refocused on the story again. Sometimes what I'll do is write on one book for a while, then move on to the next, and then another before coming back to it. That's what's so nice about having a "todo" list as long as mine is. You always have lots of variety in your writing to keep you from hitting that point of over indulgence in one particular book.

11-11-2010, 09:48 AM	#13
randyflycaster Zealot Posts: 113 Karma: 1000858 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: New York City Device: Sony 350	I try to cut, especially after having people read my work and give me feedback. In fact, I actually edited - shortened - the print version of my book, then I published the digital version. Randy

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11-11-2010, 11:22 AM	#14
Enraptured Connoisseur Posts: 55 Karma: 262 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Nook Touch	My books always get smaller when I edit them.

11-13-2010, 05:40 PM	#15
Tony_A20 Enthusiast Posts: 39 Karma: 25000 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: Kindle 3	I like to think I plan my books carefully, preparing outlines and plot structure, so the editing stage is mostly cleaning up sentence structure, word usage, and correcting grammar. I seldom cut/rewrite more than a couple of sentences at a time. My main effort is directed at reducing wordiness, and making the story flow for the reader. I have found a text speaking application (TextAloud) very helpful in this regard. The upshot is, I generally reduce the wordcount by 5%, and produce a better story. Tony A