Now that a few things have settled down, it’s time to sit my butt into my chair and begin the process of editing up the stories I currently have for my collection, Bowlful of Bunnies, as well as maybe adding a few new stories here and there when they come to me. I’m not going to worry so much about the stories until I know the ones I have are edited; I would ideally like to start pumping out a new story a day, but I know myself better than that. A new story on these days when I don’t have to go to the job that pays me, though, would be lovely. I have plenty of unfinished stuff to brush up on, so these free days that I have are going to hopefully be filled with work.
I’m getting a pretty slow start to today, but once a shower and some breakfast are taken care of, my focus can improve immensely.
This is the first time I have ever really sat down with the intention to brush up a major work for publication. I know my own editing method is pretty simple: comb through it, read some of it out-loud, cross the Is, dot the Ts, streamline some prose and straighten out some awkward sentences. I’ll eventually seek out some beta readers to catch what I don’t, but, in the meantime, I’d like to see if any of you Dear Readers have any techniques or advice for editing a major piece of work. Do you prefer quiet or music? Do recommended just driving through the task for a long period of time to just get it done, or do you like to break it down into smaller chunks of time and taking a few breathers here and there to renew yourself (I’m definitely the latter half!)? Do you have any preferred drink (coffee, tea, alcohol, the blood of young virgins) to keep you going or any snacks that are necessary fuel (chips, candy, the hearts of your enemies)? What inspires you to edit, and what advice might you pass down to others inspiring to edit?
(Edid [ha!]: I lied. This isn’t the first big project I’ve gone to editing, but the first one, I got only halfway through editing before I just decided to re-write the whole thing. …Twice.)
And, of course, what would be a post about editing without a little Regina Spektor:
Also, being in the Void Between RoWnds, I sort of forgot that yesterday was Sunday and time for a new Featured Story until I was heading out for work. So, instead, the Featured Story has been updated this morning. This is a brand new story, which is really exciting for me. It was fashioned for the contest recently run by Morgan Dragonwillow, but it was quite a bit longer than the specifications for the contest, so I just decided I’ll use it for Bowlful of Bunnies. If you get the chance to read it, it’s probably pretty unpolished because it’s a rough draft, so any comments or constructive criticism would be incredibly helpful.
L.S. Engler 
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