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Monday, August 9, 2010

the edit monster says "omnomnom!"

Heather Eats Cupcake, 2005

Yesterday I blogged about my difficulties with one of my characters and speaking in her voice.  That is part one of my difficulties with editing Fate, and this is part two: the Edit Monster.

I think everyone has their own Edit Monster.  Mine has wrinkly orange skin and bronze-colored plates like a stegosaurus.  He's reasonably well-trained and never nips at me.  Edit Monsters certainly do tend to have their own qualities.  Mine, like any child, loves eating out.  Meaning that if I'm editing a friend's story, it will bleed.  Lots.  And when I edit my own, it bleeds lots too, but later on I find that the Edit Monster hid the brussell sprouts under the napkin and put way too much ketchup on its meatloaf.  After the whole process, yes, I've cut out a great deal, but suddenly it seems as though I have a thousand words more than when I started editing.  Um, doesn't that kind of defy the point?

Personally, I've always been a prolific writer.  I volunteer to do the single twenty-page essay because I know that if I try to do the 3-seven-page essays, I'll end up doing 3-twelve-page essays.  It's a gift, and sometimes it's a curse.  I know I'm not alone.  Sammy, over at Access Approved, finished her first novel at over 200 pages.  Mine doesn't get that far.

So what I want to know is... what type of writer are you?  Does editing sometimes seem add to your work instead of fine-tuning it?  And, most importantly, what does your Edit Monster look like?

Cheers!

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