I finished the first draft of Codename: Candy the week after my last update. After that, I let it sit for a couple weeks so I could get some distance between me and the story. This is a crucial part of the editing process, so I could read the story with fresh eyes.
Before that, however, it had to pass inspection with my first reader, my partner.
This is an important first step because my partner is not a horror fan. Well, it’s kind of weird, because she watched Saw, but she probably wouldn’t watch it again. She’s the one who suggested The September House to me. She even read it first, she just didn’t like it. So her reading my stories has always been an important first step because I trust her to shoot me straight on if something is a good story or not. More importantly, she’s able to tell me if a story makes sense all the way through, or if I’m relying on the tropes of the genre to tell my story.
So after she declared the story good, I set it aside to marinate instead of setting it on fire.
When I reread the story for the first time a few days ago at the start of the editing process, I was able to see it as a good story. One that needed a little polishing, yes. But a good story, nonetheless. That first time, I just read the story. Of course, I remembered what happened, even after setting it aside for a few weeks. But my eyes were a little fresher.
In addition to editing my own work, I also used to edit short fiction for a monthly magazine. I’ve also edited longer works, though those have been fewer and further between. Like writing, I edited based on gut feeling and what constituted a good story. While that worked for me, I took the opportunities to learn from others as I was able.
I’ve used the method I learned from Richard Thomas’s workshop, “Trim the Fat,” on multiple stories. So far, it’s been successful. This time around though, while trying to stick to the method step by step, as outlined in the workshop materials, I find myself combining steps and looking at multiple things at once. It feels like a return to my “by the gut” way of editing, but with a little more structure and direction.
When I’ve used this method before, I found myself adding in quite a bit, fleshing out stories rather than trimming the fat from them. This time though, I feel like I’m not doing as much editing because I feel like I got the first draft more right than I have in the past. Maybe that means I’m becoming a better writer?
Hopefully.
Because I’m not going to lie: when I start writing again last year with Codename: Memories, it felt so hard at times that I worried that it was a skill I’d lost. But it seems like it’s there, right below the surface.
I’m hoping to finish up edits this week, then start submitting Codename: Candy to places. Hopefully, I’ll have good news in time for my next WIP column. Which would be cool, because the story has one of my favorite titles I’ve given to one of my stories.
The Chimerical Dark 