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Addicted to editing

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Forestrunner

*insert cool words*
Okay, I seriously don't know what the hell is wrong with me. I'm constantly having the urge to go back to my previous chapter to edit them, leaving my new chapters in the dust. I do all the usual stuff upon finishing a single chapter. I read it multiple times beforehand, before doing some editing here and there, and then some. I'll just keep on repeating this process till I feel satisfied with my work and then put it up online. My latest chapter took me a considerable amount of time to churn out.

Then crazy **** starts happening. When I browse through my story a few more times here and I'll never fail to do a lot of nitpicking in the process. I'll start to wonder a lot of things: if I had done enough to explain the situation, or if had fleshed out the character enough to justify whatever he is doing at that point in time, or if I had made an adequate amount description and many more. Then I'll proceed on to trim and add till I feel satisfied again, before something in some other chapters starts to irk me.

It never ****ing ends!

So does anyone have the same experience, and have you found a way to curb it?

And my keyboard sucks. Most of the letter indication on the buttons have been wiped off clean.
 
S

Silawen

Fanfiction Critic
Hah. Trust me, there are worse addictions. ;) It's actually an admirable one, because more people should be as thorough about editing as you apparently are. If it's a problem, however, then perhaps you have to set boundaries for yourself. Set a day on which you get to edit, and force yourself to stick to that, or only edit after you've accomplished something.

I know I get distracted by reviewing other people, which leads to me being hopelessly behind on my fic, but something that I found was helpful is awarding myself with review time. Once I've finished a significant scene in my fic, or done something I'd been having trouble with, I'm allowed to review a couple of fic. That way I can keep myself going, even though I'd rather be doing something else.

So, perhaps try to finish a chapter before you allow yourself to check earlier ones, or something similar.
 
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purple_drake

E/GL obsessed
If that's an addiction, then I have it too. :p Every time I reread what I've written I nitpick, and I'm constantly rereading in attempts to get myself back into the groove when I'm having trouble focussing on new chapters.

When it comes to longer stories, usually I hit between 130 to 180 pages and then feel the urge to go back and rewrite. From scratch. It sucks. Really.

I don't know about solving the problem, exactly, but I did write a non-pokemon story which hit just over 100 pages and 50,000 words. Since it was below my usual 'go back, revamp' limit, I managed to finish it. Just knowing I did actually have it in me to finish something was a great comfort, and makes it a little easier (and me more determined) to stick with other projects.

But even that story, when I reread it (is it weird to find it fun to read one of my own stories six months or so after I've written it?) I start tightening things up, even though it's finished. So I don't know if there's a 'cure', really. XD Could just be 'compulsive editor's syndrome' (no, that's not a real syndrome, just in case anyone thought otherwise...).

Maybe the solution is to try and get something finished before you get bored enough of the current chapter to start rereading? So maybe if you tried a three- or four-shot? So you've got the chapters and length, but it's not so long that you start getting bored.
 
F

Forestrunner

*insert cool words*
Alright so maybe I should just numb the urge by immersing myself into writing new chapters. Hopefully this would keep the editing bug under some control.

Must... resist... urge... to open... old files!
 
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Sharks Shouldn't Fly

Radda radda.
Yup, I used to do that all the time when I wrote fanfiction. When I got bored, I would go to something I had written previously and edit the hell out of it.

Similarly, whenever I read something with a lot of errors, I want to edit it also. >>
 
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poke poke

hello
I have the urge, but I'm just too lazy :p I go throught the fic, find grammar errors, parts that could be better and I just make a mental note to fix it later; but I don't.

Actually, I wish I had the addiction. It would stop people from repeatedly pointing out errors that I already know about.
 
D

duncan

Well-Known Member
Oh yes, certainly not a bad problem, editing. It's always good to edit your writing multiple times before posting, as it never fails you'll catch something each time, whether it is a typo or something larger. In fact, I often edit in description after the fact as I catch more and more questionable parts.

It's natural to improve over time, even over very short amounts of time. Sometimes, only a week after writing a particular piece, I might feel as if I can do better then rather than before. It especially increases over months, as you continue to get just a little bit better and want to rewrite.

My advice to you would be to read it through a few times, edit what you want then and post it/put it away and move on. At a later date, if need be, you can always edit it more, but an important thing to keep in mind is that you have to move on.

Good luck on curbing your 'addiction', though.
 
Bay

Bay

YEAHHHHHHH
Well, even though I finished writing both "Nothing, Everything" and "Destiny's Tricks," I've been editing the heck out of the chapters before I post them. Not just grammar errors and typos but also scenes and descriptions. I'm pretty much determined to have both stories the best they can be.
 
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Obsidian Blade

Happily omnipotent
I have been rewriting my first five chapters for the past three months or so. I think it's safe to say I feel your pain. >.>; It's not that they're exceptionally bad... it's just that I'm mostly changing plot points now to make things clearer or more likely, and that tends to mean I have to rewrite a lot when I want to change one little thing...
 
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Forestrunner

*insert cool words*
My God, that's exactly what I'm going through, Obsidian Blade. But I hadn't done anything drastic like doing a rewrite. Maybe a few paragraphs have to be totally revamped and stuff.
 
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