Show and Tell - Editing

I'm under the weather, so lavish me with sympathy for my mild headache, fatigue and slight wobbliness. The good news is that my mind and fingers are exempt from the ague, so I can type. So what shall I type? Something of value to you, dear reader.

I'll tell you about editing. I've left Creating World and have entered Mending and Refashioning World. After letting my first draft of Five Wires alone for two years, I decided that I'd at last have fresh eyes to tackle rewrites. And here's another problem to contend with: boy, it's quite a hefty work as it stands - over a hundred and forty thousand words. That's quite a daunting prospect to shape. I know it's not War and Peace, but it feels like it.

My recollection of the story was that there were many strong sections and - no pun - there was novelty in the setups, encounters, settings and ideas; and interesting characters - ones I certainly didn't mind spending time with. I was satisfied with the general vibe and gave myself a pat on the back for coming up with a gratifying story universe with a developing set of rules and lore. My overarching fear was that it was too damned convoluted and jammed. Story gridlock. The hustle and bustle of a city where it should be a quaint town with clear roads and manicured lawns.

After a reread, and making copious notes, I realised that each section made constructive sense when compared with the ones before and after, but that as a whole it meandered off course and that there were inconsistencies between sections separated by large tracts of other text. Ho hum. And also - yes - that it was jammed.

I hate it when events don't stack up in novels. When characters make wild decisions that seem unlike them. Their actions just so happen to propel the story forward into a neat new area of adventure. Well, I'm not suspending my disbelief for the sake of story convenience, no matter how thrilling the ride might be. I don't like to be cheated and I don't want to cheat in my writing. Though it's hard not to want things to turn out one way to make the writing easier. Why oh why couldn't X do Y? The simple answer is that X does Z. People are like that. Pains. And characters in stories are pains too. Feel that discomfort, writer. We want an easy life don't we? Well forget it.

So practically, what to do? I reread the whole thing, making notes, and then I put together a spreadsheet to get an overview of all the characters and where they are and what they're doing. It's not exhaustive, but it lets me peer down from my helicopter and get the lay of the land. The coding was interesting. A one for present or occupied. A minus one for involvement in a phone call but being absent at the setting. I also had coding for existence in a flashback narrated by someone - zero. I also kept track of any points of view. The reader can sit on a character's shoulder like a little humunculus. It's as well to know there's no head hopping, Or if there is, its extent and whether it enhances the story for the reader. Gently does it in my opinion.

I also felt like the story I wrote was the tip of the iceberg of events and forces acting hidden, unseen, beneath the surface and prior to events in the narrative. Having a large glued together spreadsheet wasn't enough, so I took a large roll of wallpaper paper and used marker pens to fashion a whole creative explosion of origin for the twisting kaleidoscope of narrative. I have this to consult with for further instalments (if righting this one doesn't kill me first) [and yes I did intend righting].

The next decision is whether to fix problems in order of their priority wherever they occur, or to work plainly, sequentially from front to back. I opted for front to back, catching them as I go. I've also had to give myself permission to - and this seems odd - slash and burn where necessary but also to gently nudge proceedings gingerly, indeed tenderly along, often allowing myself to kick harder decisions down the road. This is where the art comes in. Editing is the confident and not so confident meddling in the affairs of a story. Once it's in print, I don't care what anyone says, it takes on a definitive quality. It may still be a quality of horse shit, but it's horseshit set in a legible type on a page, so we worship it as in some sense worthy.

Long story short. I'm on chapter 6 and have had to make some major decisions here. I've culled a character and transferred one into her place. This is a hinge point. The chapter was always problematical. By the end of this run, it will be less so, and will pave the way for a smoother and more cogent narrative drive.

'Goody!' I can hear you cry. 'Get on with it.'

Thanks, I will.