What does editing entail?
Added 2017-04-21 19:19:52 +0000 UTCAs I'm sure you guys are well aware, I've finished the latest chapter, and I'm sitting down to do my editing. I thought I'd explain exactly what happens, just so you have a better idea.
Each chapter is roughly 30k words, so I've started splitting them in half, and give my editors part 1, while I write the rest of part 2. It works well, because they can point out anything important I might have missed, giving me time to add it to part 2, if I can't fit it into part 1.
They typically give me some immediate feedback after reading through part 1, and two of them will go through picking up missing words, misspellings, punctuation errors and the like. There might be a few minor scene changes at this point, but this first pass only takes me about 30 mins.
The third editor creates a word doc, and goes through in detail with word change suggestions, and ideas for new scenes. Going through that lot takes me anywhere from 1-4 hours on average depending on the scale of changes. When I've gone through all their edits, I post the revised version onto google docs,
Finally the last editor goes through the entire thing, picking up punctuation and grammar errors. He typically finds between 100-200 separate corrections, so going through those normally takes a couple of hours.
That's how it normally pans out, but sometimes I get their feedback in different orders which complicates things a bit. For the last chapter I ended up inserting a score of new paragraphs based on their feedback, which took most of a day to complete.
Heavily modifying scenes (especially dialogue!) can be very time consuming, as I have to keep rereading to make sure the dialogue still flows logically. It takes much longer to insert a few paragraphs than just to write new paragraphs! There are lots of other things to watch out for too, like repeated use of uncommon words, and excessive use of adjectives ending in -ly.
Sometimes a proposed edit can be too tricky to insert into existing scenes, because it will break too much dialogue etc. If that happens, I usually just try and address that point when I start the next part or chapter.
So I hope that gives you a better picture of what's involved. Based on feedback from a Patreon Poll, I occasionally give you a chapter before completing the last grammar/punctuation pass, because at that stage nothing fundamental usually changes regarding the storyline.
Comments
Excellent work, as always!
Lord Winter
2017-04-25 01:58:15 +0000 UTCIt's live
Wookey
2017-04-24 20:34:46 +0000 UTCIt's 8-33 pm in the U.K now argh I can't wait I just finished chapter 75 again lol
Jim lynch
2017-04-24 19:34:45 +0000 UTCany minute now... :)
2017-04-24 19:24:10 +0000 UTCso am i
2017-04-24 18:57:44 +0000 UTCI'm on a serious withdrawal- for my next fix....and not alone lol
2017-04-24 18:39:15 +0000 UTCSWEET!!!!
Anthony Kester
2017-04-24 17:19:22 +0000 UTChappy
2017-04-24 16:33:17 +0000 UTCThaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnkkkkkkkkk You!!!!
2017-04-24 16:11:51 +0000 UTCWOOHOO! Can't wait! They should be out right when I get out of my afternoon classes!
George41
2017-04-24 16:02:26 +0000 UTCyaaaaaàay.... lol feel like a crack addict waiting on the next fix lol
2017-04-24 15:48:30 +0000 UTCYay!
2017-04-24 15:46:06 +0000 UTCI've received the last of the edits, and I'll start them when I get back from work (2h from now). They'll probably take me a couple of hours to complete, so you should get the next chapter in about 4-5 hours!
Tefler
2017-04-24 14:41:54 +0000 UTCGet the edits back yet Tef?
2017-04-24 14:39:16 +0000 UTCAny update Tefler?
2017-04-24 14:32:34 +0000 UTCOr pink slips
ETNSosa
2017-04-24 03:28:25 +0000 UTCAw, man. Looks like it's going to be another long boring day at work then. I was hoping to have the new chapter to keep me occupied. Oh well. Guess that means I get to read it in peace at home without risk of interruptions.
Jedi Khan
2017-04-24 01:09:56 +0000 UTCSleep! It does a body good.
Evan
2017-04-24 00:40:12 +0000 UTCHey everyone, I'm still waiting on final edits, so I'm thinking tomorrow should be the day. :-)
Tefler
2017-04-23 23:53:20 +0000 UTCyep, that is true
2017-04-23 23:24:12 +0000 UTCFrom his lack of a response, I'd say he's probably balls deep in the edits so he can get this chapter to us sooner. He's shown himself to be acutely aware of our anticipation.
Lord Winter
2017-04-23 23:22:18 +0000 UTCI'll give it an hour more but yeaahhhh.... looking more like monday release.
2017-04-23 22:51:03 +0000 UTCWell...it is midnight London time. So we are probably looking at Monday for the release.
PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.
2017-04-23 22:46:44 +0000 UTCLOLs....we are soooooo adicted
PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.
2017-04-23 22:16:29 +0000 UTCwaiting unpatiently
2017-04-23 19:54:57 +0000 UTCI'm still waiting for the last one, but he usually suggests the most significant scene changes. I've incorporated everyone else's suggestions, so I'm just waiting on him at the moment.
Tefler
2017-04-23 15:56:14 +0000 UTCTefler, have received all your editors feedback yet?
2017-04-23 15:53:39 +0000 UTCThey could probably literally "save" Athena by dragging her into Faye's Progenitor server and saving her as data. She's already in spirit form anyway so jumping into the digital realm should be easy.
2017-04-23 15:25:45 +0000 UTCinteresting... if they delay, we might find out what the Ashanath's secret weapon is... Weirdly, I really wanna ignore the main story and be worried about Athena, the progenitor side chick. Can he create a body for her? if he does, faye might get one too. otherwise I can't yet picture how she might be saved. Any ideas?
2017-04-23 15:12:44 +0000 UTCBelieve he knows that and his being a kindly gentleman in give her the choice.
2017-04-23 14:58:33 +0000 UTCNo, just setting waiting on Tefler to finish his edits; but I do believe that John will also give the other Matriarchs the white-hair treatment and finish the refit first before leaving.
2017-04-23 14:55:23 +0000 UTCWe'll get a new chapter today!!! So... any predictions? Mine is that John tells the other matriarchs about the other progenitor to hurry along the treaty before hurrying off to grey space
2017-04-23 13:59:58 +0000 UTCOh! that's a good one!
DCM
2017-04-23 05:35:49 +0000 UTCYou should check out Deathworlders by Hambone. Just his main series alone is over 900,000 words. Plus there is a ton of additional content in the whole Jenkinsverse, with 2 additional super long series, and several additional shorter series.
George41
2017-04-23 05:00:44 +0000 UTCAfter a quick game of rock-paper-scissors, John began to form the plating for the inside of the turret wells. Alyssa was overjoyed to have avoided working on any form of armour plating, and she only teased him lightly for losing. John is always gonna lose a rock-paper-scissors game with Alyssa unless he up his mind shield playing a game. She fooled John.
2017-04-23 03:35:28 +0000 UTCI can hardly wait for the next chapter. TSM is my favorite story. So keep up the fantastic work.
Kim Biel-Nielsen
2017-04-22 20:14:52 +0000 UTCThanks for the inside view on your process, Tefler. I have done some editing work with Latenight_Pondering on his works, and if you ever need any additional editing help, ping me.
GrandPaM
2017-04-22 19:11:53 +0000 UTChi tef hope your day is going well
2017-04-22 18:25:48 +0000 UTCThank you for sharing this process Tefler, and the care you and your team take in giving us such a polished story chapter after chapter.
2017-04-22 16:08:12 +0000 UTCI've just sent you a message. ;-)
Tefler
2017-04-22 12:53:54 +0000 UTCYou're welcome!
Tefler
2017-04-22 12:51:48 +0000 UTCYeah, I'll keep you guys in the loop. :-)
Tefler
2017-04-22 12:49:11 +0000 UTCNo problem, I hoped it might be interesting.
Tefler
2017-04-22 12:48:25 +0000 UTCThanks! That process has just sort of evolved through trial and error, but it seems to work well. :-)
Tefler
2017-04-22 12:48:07 +0000 UTCFathersin contacted me around chapter 14 or so and offered to help. I started advertising for more editors at around chapter 35, and two more guys volunteered then. The last one joined about 3 months ago, after I asked if anyone else was interested.
Tefler
2017-04-22 12:47:09 +0000 UTCThanks! I really hope you like the next chapter!
Tefler
2017-04-22 12:45:29 +0000 UTCI just thought you guys might be curious. Before I started writing I had no idea what editing might involve. :-)
Tefler
2017-04-22 12:45:11 +0000 UTCI'm hoping Sunday, but it depends how quickly my editors get back to me. I finished editing part 1 last night. :-)
Tefler
2017-04-22 12:44:20 +0000 UTCI'm curious. How did you find your editors? Are they people who volunteered? Is this in person or all online?
Servo1969
2017-04-22 06:25:29 +0000 UTCKeep on keepin on...... you do good.
2017-04-22 02:52:33 +0000 UTClol Tef, there's no need to be subtle. If you want us to chill out and quit pestering you for updates during the editing stage, just tell us. We're all grown-ups here (hopefully).
Jedi Khan
2017-04-22 01:44:23 +0000 UTCThanks for the insight. Does this mean that we will Ben getting a new chapter here in the next day or two?
Patrick Briley
2017-04-22 00:03:27 +0000 UTCSpeaking as an editor, I will say that that's very impressive, both in the coordination and the turnaround time. Most of what I edit is significantly larger, but I tend towards a forty-eight hour editing schedule myself as a solo editor. Excellent work!
Evan
2017-04-21 23:43:50 +0000 UTCAhh Tefler you need to tell them the truth... You know the real process is to have it " sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public inquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat for three months and recycled as firelighters." All kidding aside that is fantastic turn around time and I am glad you found a group of folks that work well with you.. I know how hard it is to get a good process going and keep it going! Please do let your fans know if that ever changes as with Aussie Dan there may be others who will lend a hand if things change!
2017-04-21 21:12:06 +0000 UTCThanks for letting us know this. I will be more understanding of the time it takes from completion to release of chapter now. Great to hear from you.
2017-04-21 20:49:56 +0000 UTCTefler, if you're ever looking for another editor, please let me know. I've had a lot of experience writing and editing my work and that of others and would love to be able to contribute to the process.
2017-04-21 20:11:09 +0000 UTCThanks for the insight. Much appreciated.
Grimlakin
2017-04-21 19:22:13 +0000 UTC
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