089: How to Edit Your Book When You're Dreading It

 

If the thought of editing your book fills you with dread, you're not alone! Some writers procrastinate on the editing process (for a variety of reasons we discuss in this episode) or are totally overwhelmed with how to do it. Get some helpful mindset reframes and tips in this episode to help you edit your book.

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how to edit your book when you’re dreading it

Hi, Friends, welcome back to the blank page to book podcast, I'm happy that you're here. Happy you're listening, hope you're having a fabulous summer so far. I have worked with some clients who dread editing, who are just completely dreading it, who are overwhelmed by it, who are afraid of it who are procrastinating on finishing their draft, because they're worried about it. And I've also seen a lot of kind of social media talk about this. And I've shared this before, but I'll share it again, because I think it's kind of funny.

 

You know how we like to lump writers into groups, like there's plotters, and pantsers. And my friend jokes that there are two kinds of writers, there are writers who love drafting and hate editing. And then writers who hate drafting, but love editing. And I of course, just think it's something funny, I don't think anyone, I don't think all writers fall neatly into categories like that. But I am definitely someone who I don't hate drafting, but I have a love hate relationship with it. And it's tough for me. And I love the editing process. So what I'm going to talk about in this episode is not based on my own experience, necessarily. But I am going to share some tips that have helped me with other parts of the process that I dread, it, again, is not editing for me.

 

But there are things that I procrastinate to the head on, and I just like kind of dread. And then I'm also going to share from you know, the experience of working with clients who have felt this way, and how we've navigated this. So you know, whether you are with, whatever your feelings are with editing, like it's totally normal, whatever you're feeling, if you dread it, if you're afraid of it, if you're overwhelmed, if you're procrastinating, it's totally normal, it's valid, there's not something wrong with you, you're not a bad writer, this episode is just going to be helpful for you to maybe re reframe some of that and give you some tips for how to approach editing. Because editing is important. No matter how solid your first draft is even if you are an extreme outliner. And you have followed your detailed outline diligently to the point where the book matches exactly what you planned.

 

Everything's really solid, you spent a lot of time on your sentences, and characters and plot and everything. Even if that's you, you still have to do some editing, no one gets a free pass on this, everyone has to edit their book, at least a little bit at least once. Most of us much more than that. So and there's some people I've even heard some people say that, in some ways, editing is more important than writing. And I can understand that argument. I'm not totally sure where I fall in that belief, if I believe it, but it's important. And it's one of those things where just like with writing, the more that you do it, the more that you edit your own work, the more that you get comfortable with it and figure out a process that works for you.

 

It's just going to be better, it's going to be better overall, you might still dread it with every book that you write, you might still procrastinate on finishing your draft, but at least you're going to be more familiar with it and comfortable with it and know what works for you. So it's going to get better in that sense. The same is true with me and drafting. So alright, so I'm gonna give you some tips. And a lot of this stuff is like more mindset related because that's what this comes down to is if there's a behavior that if there's something that you're doing like you're procrastinating or you're going into an anxiety spiral, or you know a lot of this is just like mental stuff or mindset stuf.  So that's why a lot of the stuff we're going to talk about in this episode is related to mindset.

 

Okay, the first thing that I want you to do that I think can be super helpful is to get clear on what exactly it is about the editing process that you are avoiding or dreading like what is specifically what is the fear? What don't you want to do? What are you overwhelmed by, I'm gonna give you some options of things that I've seen that can cause this, maybe it's that you are just totally burned out from writing your first draft. And so the thought of then going in and having to edit just makes you want to cry because you it has been so difficult for you to get the first draft out, you're like, how can I, I have nothing left? How can I edit, maybe it's the fact that editing just seems really hard and you don't know how to do it, you don't have any strategies, you don't know how people break it down. And it feels overwhelming, because you don't know how to do it.

 

People can also procrastinate, or dread editing, because that means that they are one step closer to their book being out in the world, their book being released, published, being ready for querying whatever's next for the book, right? When you edit, you get closer to letting other people read your book, putting it out into the world. And that can cause a lot of fear and anxiety. So those are just some examples, it could be a number of other things. But what I want you to do want, what I want you to do is just see if you can name, see if you can articulate what it is that you are dreading specifically. And it can be multiple things, it can be a combination of things.

 

This can be done, you just sitting and reflecting kind of closing your eyes and thinking about it, you can do some journaling, if that's helpful, and just get all of your thoughts on page, everything that you're worried about everything that you're dreading. Yeah, just just everything you're fearing the editing process, like get it all on the page and see if you can look at it and then determine specifically what you're dreading. I find that it is so much easier to work through something and be make a plan and a strategy to, like, fix it. If I know what it is I'm afraid of and dealing with.

 

Now, you do not have to completely get over your dread and your fear of editing to do it. I'm not saying that like okay, once you know what it is that you've really got to buckle down and work on your mindset and think about it and work through it and process it and then you can start editing. No, you can still have all of those feelings and still be moving forward. You know, it's just like imposter syndrome or doubt or any of the very normal things that come up in the writing process for a lot of people. You don't have to stop what you're doing. Process those work through them, get over them.

 

Before you write that that's not how that works. To some extent, I think for most of us, that little bit of doubt, and that little bit of impostor syndrome and maybe a little bit of fear, you know, we it might always be there in the background. And that's okay. We just don't have to let it stop us. So I want to be clear that that this isn't a case where you have to do all of this emotional work and like go to therapy, whatever, process everything and get over it before you move forward because you don't.

 

So once you figured out what it is, like I mentioned, then you can make a plan of attack for editing. So in the example I mentioned, where let's say that you are just afraid of editing and you're putting it off because you don't know how to do it. This is where some education can be really, really helpful. Education in the form of checking out some YouTube videos talking with other writer friends and hearing what their process for editing is going on tick tock and getting some ideas and strategies. Maybe taking a class I have a an editing workshop that I will link to in the description of this episode.

 

It's a short training, it's not like a long, you know, three hour class on editing. It's going to give you some really actionable tips and pieces of advice and, and a strategy that I teach clients and use myself to edit that breaks down my editing method, my five draft editing method, and also just gives you some some helpful information and tips. So definitely check out that training if you want just like some, just a place to go to get some help and figure out how to do this. So you know if the reason that you are dreading it or putting it off is just because you're you're lacking some knowledge. Then the good news is there are things you can do to fix that.

 

And as you continue to write as you continue to edit, you will hone your process you will figure out what works best for you. So don't feel all of this pressure to gain all of the knowledge first before you do it. You might just have to get in there. Get your hands dirty, and figure some things out as you go. That's part of the process. That's too. So if some of your you know, things that you're worried about are more mindset related, it might just be a practice of reframing and shifting what you are focusing on. So if you're afraid of what's next for your book, publishing, letting other people read it querying, and that's why you're putting off editing. One of the most helpful things I can give you tips is to just be where your feet are. If you are not at the editing stage yet, you are not there yet, like you are, you're still drafting you are still writing, you are still focusing on the next word and sentence and page and chapter in front of you.

 

Of course, it's fine to think ahead, you know, and plan ahead if you're, especially if you are a planner, and you want to think about like, okay, how long should I give myself to edit? What's it going to look like? I understand wanting to think about that. But you're, you're not there yet. And you're not at the stage of publishing your book yet. Or getting BETA readers or querying, you are not there yet. You are still drafting, you are still writing. So I want you to look down, Be where your feet are, pay attention to like literally, like, I mean, literally, where are your feet, they're on the floor, on the carpet on the couch. That is where you are in the present moment, you're not thinking ahead, you're not in the past, you are in the present moment, focused on whatever scene you are working on at the moment.

 

Okay. My next tip is for those of you who find that some external accountability is going to be helpful for you. There's nothing wrong with needing some accountability to get you through the finish line of editing. And this, let's say that you you have finished drafting and you're about to start editing, if you if you're not there yet, again, like don't worry too much about this. But think of ways that you can hack this and gamify this and figure out some kind of like reward system, or have an editing buddy, or just anything you can do to make the process feel a little bit more fun. And to have some accountability to actually edit your book.

 

One thing that I found really motivating for me when I was drafting is tracking my writing every single day I set a goal when I wanted to finish my last book that I would write 1000 words a day. And so I tracked it in an Excel sheet or a Google Sheets, I had it on my Google Drive. And I would say like Okay, today wrote this many words and then in the next column, I would have, what's my total word count, and it was so motivating to see that word count increase. So you could do a similar thing with editing, if that's helpful for you. If it's just going to make you anxious, then obviously don't do it figure out some other some other system.

 

But maybe this is like you treat yourself and you buy yourself Starbucks after every time that you like do a couple of editing Sprint's maybe it's again, like I mentioned a writing buddy or an editing buddy, maybe you you know, make a pledge on social media that you're going to commit to having your book edited by this date, and you're looking for an accountability buddy. And you guys get on Zoom, and you have your you know, you're muted. So you're just working individually on stuff and you edit, figure out ways to make this more appealing and, and enjoyable for you. And you might still dislike editing, it's not like, you know, buying yourself Starbucks or having an accountability buddy is suddenly going to make you just full of like sunshine and rainbows and be like, Oh my gosh, I love editing. This is amazing. But it might just help the process and it might help you actually sit down and do it.

 

The last thing I want to say about this is just a reframe. And I talked in the beginning of this episode about how editing is important. It's a part of the writing process. But if you can reframe this to recognize that you are editing is a is an exciting step because it means that you have written a book. If you are going back and editing as you're writing, then you might not have finished draft but it's still exciting because it means that you've written something and it's on the page. You cannot write something that you cannot edit something that has not been written so you have a foundation already. You have a draft of something already and that is a massive, massive accomplishment. Like this is exciting that you are getting to edit your book, that it really is exciting. And I know you're if you're dreading it you're like What are you talking about? I'm so overwhelmed. I don't want to do it. But it is it is exciting. Like it really is. It means you've made it this far. It means that you have something to work with and

 

Yeah, I think that's just an exciting place to be at when I get to the editing. And I know that I feel differently about editing. But when I get to the editing process, I'm like, yes, I'm so excited. Like, now the fun can begin because I have something to work with. I have a foundation for my story. I know what the story is, I know what the characters are. So yeah, I can do. If you are a writer, if you're kind of the opposite type of writer, where you are dreading the drafting process, but you love the editing process. Maybe I can do an episode that kind of flips this and does the reverse. So let me know if that's something that you're interested in. And I can, I can do an episode on that, too. I don't know what it would be called, I guess like how to write your book when you're dreading it, which just sounds kind of miserable. But you know what I mean? Yeah,

 

I have an episode that is on tough love for editing. So if you just need someone to like kick your ass into gear and help you sit down and edit, then you can listen to that episode. It is episode number 67. It came out in February of this year. And it's the tough love episode for editing. So if you need a little bit more of a tough drill sergeant kind of approach to get you to do it. Go check out that episode and good luck with your editing. But only if you're there yet. If you're not there yet. Just focus on whatever it is you are working on. You'll get to editing later. Okay, thanks for listening.

 

Katie Wolf