Editing How do you know when to stop editing?

[Variation]

after doing my outlines, first and second drafts, and going over them a couple times, I finally get around to uploading and I find I just can't stop going back and touching it up some more here and there.
Heck I'm already at 10 revisions for something I put up yesterday.
Do you ever feel satisfied? Or do you just learn to leave it be?

 

[gaylolis]

i'm satisfied after grammarly didn't suggest any more corrections :D

 

[aree]

if you edit non-stop there will be some mistakes. Let it rest like a dough. Just write the next chapter then edit again. Use, Grammarly and Quillbot. they are helpful. For the last check, read it aloud. this is one of the ways of proofreading

 

[ludagad]

Never! But for real though, don't post soon after you're done writing. Wait for a week and more (keep writing in the meantime), then go back and read it with fresh eyes and you'll notice most of what needs editing. And after that, just leave it and forget it ever existed. I'm guessing you're a perfectionist lol. The more you write, the better you'll get and the more you'll cringe at your old work. That's just how it is. You keep moving forward. I mean, just look at Takehiko Inoue's art in Slam Dunk early volumes, then at Vagabond's art... Don't waste your time dwelling on old work.

 

[Khiricastares]

When you go blind.

 

[Variation]

Never! But for real though, don't post soon after you're done writing. Wait for a week and more (keep writing in the meantime), then go back and read it with fresh eyes and you'll notice most of what needs editing. And after that, just leave it and forget it ever existed. I'm guessing you're a perfectionist lol. The more you write, the better you'll get and the more you'll cringe at your old work. That's just how it is. You keep moving forward. I mean, just look at Takehiko Inoue's art in Slam Dunk early volumes, then at Vagabond's art... Don't waste your time dwelling on old work.

mmh, might be the way to go. Give myself some time to backlog chapters so I can let them marinate. .

if you edit non-stop there will be some mistakes. Let it rest like a dough. Just write the next chapter then edit again. Use, Grammarly and Quillbot. they are helpful. For the last check, read it aloud. this is one of the ways of proofreading

Grammarly does seem pretty nice as well, but usually it's not that the English doesn't make sense, it's more like I don't feel like I've portrayed what I've intended. Mentioned irrelevant things or forgotten important ones.

 

[Kotohood]

I just go through two revisions and that's about it. One simple one and one a more thorough one. If I have the time maybe I'll go a third time after letting it rest for a few weeks.

I consider readable as good enough.

We have a schedule to follow and at some point, you are better off using your time to plan and write your next chapter instead of having that one perfectly edited chapter. And let's be honest, no matter how much you edit, its never gonna be perfect because finding errors in your own work is hard. People are still going to trash you in the comments about how bad your English is and stuff. Only way to improve is to make mistakes and eventually you'll get to a point where you make less and fewer mistakes.

 

[Variation]

mmh, I'm happy to be getting used to the process and getting better, really hope I can grow more comfortable with it. Though I think I'm always gonna worry about those "landing chapters", the first few posts that'd make or break alot of readers.

 

[DragonMage18]

Do you ever feel satisfied?

You will never be satisfied if you keep it up.

Even if you know it's not perfect you have to let it go at some point (afterall there is no perfection, atferall one mans tresure is another mans gold).
After writing go over it once or twice and edit the glaring obvious faults.
Then continue writing the next chapter and leave it be.
You should wait a day or two or even more before you go back to do a last edit.

You could also ask someone to read it and give you their thoughts, discusing with them their thoughts, what should change and so on.
Be carefull with who you ask if you do so.

 

[PrincessFelicie]

I'm guilty of always going back to old works and editing them again and again long after I should've stopped touching them up. There isn't a time where you can know when to "stop" editing, only one where you do stop editing.

 

[aree]

Grammarly does seem pretty nice as well, but usually it's not that the English doesn't make sense, it's more like I don't feel like I've portrayed what I've intended. Mentioned irrelevant things or forgotten important ones.

In that case, you need to follow two things. Read a lot of web novels and make a habit of writing.

For reading, try reading other web novels, translated or original. I am not trying to say the paperback novel is not good but essence of the web novel is very different.

I don't know it can help you or not but try it. Take a fantasy Deviantart and try to write down what the artist wants to convey. Take a clip and try to convey the emotions of the characters. It worked for me but took me long enough.

 

[Variation]

I don't know it can help you or not but try it. Take a fantasy Deviantart and try to write down what the artist wants to convey. Take a clip and try to convey the emotions of the characters. It worked for me but took me long enough.

actually seems like a real fun exercise, I'll have to give it a try, yeah.

 

[jinxs2011]

never and immediately, for me. When i'm writing a chapter, i'll edit as I go, maybe give it a quick look over when I finish it, but not much more than that. Still, every time I go back and look at old chapters, I find things that I want to fix, even if I've already gone and edited it twice before. I'd say don't spend too much time agonising over the editing, because you'll always miss something. Maybe you won't notice it now, but you'll get better at writing, go back and then you'll see it. Just go back every now and again and do some quick edits.

 

[AkaGin]

Tbh it just happened that I have a story that I have written something like two years ago. I have lost count of how many times I have revised, proofread, and even axed a whole chapter. In the end, it is nice to have a structure of chapters that you will be satisfied with before publishing.

 

[GDLiZy]

I edited as I go, and after a long while, I came back to revise it to fit my planned plot. I usually have a few chapters in stocks so that I could do this.

 

[Jolliapplegirl]

I'd stop editing if afterward, my page is blank.

In all seriousness, I just write what's on my mind and correct any misspelling or errors after I'm done. I don't bother adding or removing stuff cause it might disrupt the flow of the narrative. I trust my first try and just smooth the edges a bit.

 

[AliceShiki]

I write the chapter once, and then I wait a day and edit it. After that I'm done and I'm not going back to that chapter until I finish the novel. (unless someone points out a typo and stuff)

The chapter will never be perfect, just make one editing and keep moving, you can worry about seriously improving it when you try publishing it on Amazon or something.

 

[Nanakawaichan]

Never ending editing for me. Even after I posted it, I ended up keep editing it

 

[Variation]

This here is my editing addiction.

Yet it's still not enough.