![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/andrew-neel-237802-unsplash.jpg?resize=640%2C960&ssl=1\")
I must say that editing is sometimes a real challenge. In this latest round of revisions, I needed to:<\/p>\nI\u2019m back! Didja miss me?<\/p>\n
After four weeks of a flash fiction class where we had homework every week, another week of preparing to teach a class for a friend, and three weeks of non-stop editing\/re-reading\/re-editing, I\u2019ve finally sent off my latest draft to the next round of readers. Now I\u2019m at a point where I can take a break. And I plan to do just that. (hah!) After this week. Because I promised to critique another two short pieces for friends.<\/p>\n
I must say that editing is sometimes a real challenge. In this latest round of revisions, I needed to:<\/p>\n
\u2022 completely rewrite my opening scene Sometimes, it\u2019s not so hard. A few could be accomplished with global find and replace options in the software. Here are a few of the smaller things on my list:<\/p>\n \u2022 change some character names that were too similar If you\u2019ve revised a lengthy manuscript before, you know it\u2019s never \u201cfinished\u201d \u2013 not until it\u2019s on the shelf at the local bookstore, or at your local library. Every round of revisions makes it a stronger story, more compelling, more polished. I can see it happening before my eyes.<\/p>\n It\u2019s difficult, on occasion, to \u201ckill one\u2019s darlings,\u201d especially if they\u2019ve been in every draft since the It ain\u2019t over \u2018till it\u2019s over, as they say. So I\u2019m taking advantage of this little \u201cbreak.\u201d I\u2019m hopeful that once this next collection of input is incorporated, I\u2019ll be able to query. I\u2019ll keep you posted on that. Meanwhile, I\u2019m not on any deadlines, and can walk in nature, read a book, take a nap, watch the telly, whatever I want. It feels so good\u2014like a mini-vacation! Writers, you know.<\/p>\n I hope to be able to post more regularly for at least the foreseeable future. \u2018til next week!<\/p>\n \u201cWoman Working by a Window,\u201d by Andrew Neel<\/a> I\u2019m back! Didja miss me? After four weeks of a flash fiction class where we had homework every week, another week of preparing to teach a class for a friend, and three weeks of non-stop editing\/re-reading\/re-editing, I\u2019ve finally sent off my latest draft to the next round of readers. Now I\u2019m at a point where…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-posts","category-on-writing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/mel-poole-628310-unsplash.jpg?fit=6016%2C4000&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8n0kX-mj","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":931,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/07\/16\/fear-of-revisions-you-can-do-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":1383,"position":0},"title":"Fear of Revisions: You Can Do It!","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"July 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I mentioned that my fiction intensive class (with author Lydia Netzer) would be critiquing the first 25% of my manuscript. Everyone said they loved it. Many offered specifics on what they loved and why, as well as what drew them in. On the other hand, every student found\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Editing-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Editing-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Editing-1024x768.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Editing-1024x768.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3270,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/21\/author-interview\/","url_meta":{"origin":1383,"position":1},"title":"Author Interview!","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"April 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I know, I know ... I've not uploaded a blog post this month. My sincere apologies! Lots going on ... mostly I'm working on The Founder's Seed book one (\"Fallen\"), and trying to keep up with a new writer's group I've joined. That's where some of the recent reviews have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":139,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2017\/03\/26\/an-education-in-craft\/","url_meta":{"origin":1383,"position":2},"title":"An Education In Craft","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"March 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"That first summer I worked with Paula on editing my manuscript, I read more than I wrote. Some of the books I read were helpful, and still sit on my shelf for future reference or inspiration. But the three that really stood out for me were Larry Brooks\u2019 Story Physics\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":213,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2017\/05\/29\/back-burner\/","url_meta":{"origin":1383,"position":3},"title":"Back Burner","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"May 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently, I finished a speculative fiction short I\u2019ve shown to no one yet (except hubby). I haven\u2019t even looked at it myself in almost two weeks. I wrote, finished and set it aside. On purpose. I\u2019d heard of this tactic before, but never tried it. Then several short stories were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":548,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/01\/15\/living-our-stories\/","url_meta":{"origin":1383,"position":4},"title":"Living Our Stories","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"January 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In writing workshops, teachers and advisers (and agents\/publishers) all say that regardless of genre, a book's word count is limited. In science fiction, for example, the standard acceptable word count ranges between 90K and 120K. Given this restriction, it's important for the writer to confine herself to those words that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6386,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/01\/secrets-of-olde-the-hades-interview\/","url_meta":{"origin":1383,"position":5},"title":"Secrets of Olde: The Hades Interview","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"August 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Kayleigh Kavanagh \u00a9 March 28, 2024 File size: 3.0 MB 313 pages ASIN: B0CZFCCW81 Secrets of Olde: The Hades Interview is exactly that: an interview. Hades has had it up to here with the humans getting his story wrong, so he wants to set the record straight: He did\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A human skull looks out from among deep, blood-red leaves and metallic fillagree. Fine, dried vines cover its cap and fill its eye sockets. Text reads \u201cSecrets of Olde: The Hades Interview. 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\n\u2022 write two new scenes from scratch to fill in a timeline gap
\n\u2022 flesh out my main character\u2019s motivation by showing her doing<\/strong> what she was talking<\/strong> about
\n\u2022 show more action in a few of the scenes where critical plot points are taking place
\n\u2022 cut some scenes that weren\u2019t working\/served no real purpose
\n\u2022 fix inconsistencies\u2014i.e. character a says one thing in chapter 5, but something else in chapter 10
\n\u2022 remove bits that rehashed something I\u2019d already made clear<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 change words that used unfamiliar diacritical characters<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/mel-poole-628310-unsplash.jpg?resize=640%2C426&ssl=1\")
beginning. But I\u2019ve heard time and again from writers more experienced than I that if a particular piece of the manuscript isn\u2019t serving the story, if it isn\u2019t essential to the clarity of the plot, take it out<\/span><\/em>. I\u2019m not sure I can see what can go and what must stay any more, but I do know many publishing houses won\u2019t take a manuscript that\u2019s over 100K words, especially for a first-time writer like me. So I still need to hack. And slash. With an axe. Thus this round of readers will (hopefully) help me see where I can safely do that without sacrificing story quality.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cCut\u201d by Mel Poole<\/a>
\nPhotos courtesy of Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"