Edit, Edit, Edit…and Then Edit Again

Posted on May 14, 2025 by mitchteemley

Some things never change:

I’m currently working on the “final final” draft of my book. It’s all strictly scientific: First, I remove sequences. Then I put them back in. Then I remove them again. Then I move paragraphs, put them back where they were, and then move them again. Then I rewrite sentences, undo the rewrites, and then redo the rewrites…

I know the rules and apply them religiously. It’s just that sometimes I lose my religion and go on sinful agnostic editing binges. Then I repent, and restore my original sacred words. And then I start the whole process over again. And yet somehow…

When my story is finished (or, well, published, anyway), it’s actually better. And all it took was editing, editing, editing and, oh yeah, more editing. So, how many times do you need to edit your work?

Just one more time.

About mitchteemley

Writer, Filmmaker, Humorist, Thinker-about-stuffer
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95 Responses to Edit, Edit, Edit…and Then Edit Again

  1. Sue Ann (Suna) Kendall says:
    May 14, 2025 at 11:31 am

    You are so right, Mitch. So much of writing is editing! Good luck getting finished!

    Reply
  2. Just Bob F says:
    May 14, 2025 at 11:33 am

    It never ends (stops, ceases, terminates, finishes) does it?

    Reply
  3. CurtissAnn says:
    May 14, 2025 at 11:34 am

    Oh, yes, been there, many times. Thanks for the smile. Keep on keeping on.

    Reply
  4. Caleb Cheruiyot says:
    May 14, 2025 at 11:40 am

    Interesting!

    Reply
  5. firewater65 says:
    May 14, 2025 at 11:49 am

    Brilliant. If I don’t push my work away from me like an unwanted but persistent suitor, I never stop tinkering with it. It’s a sickness.

    Reply
  6. Robin Luftig says:
    May 14, 2025 at 11:50 am

    It wasn’t until I wrote my first book that I realized that the writing of it was the easiest. But, between you and me, editing is the funnest (I mean, most fun).

    Reply
  7. Ellie says:
    May 14, 2025 at 12:04 pm

    Ugh! Going through that right about now. Lol. 😅

    Reply
  8. Loku says:
    May 14, 2025 at 12:13 pm

    Reading the title, I felt, “today, Mitch will sing a song for us”.

    Reply
  9. Abe Austin says:
    May 14, 2025 at 12:22 pm

    Can’t wait to see your novel published!

    Reply
  10. Gail Perry says:
    May 14, 2025 at 12:38 pm

    I can hardly wait for the last edit!

    Reply
  11. K.L. Hale says:
    May 14, 2025 at 12:42 pm

    I could edit forever, Mitch. One more time! That’s what we tell students. Mitch, I FEEL for you. “I lose my religion and go on sinful agnostic editing binges.” I’m giggling, but get it! “Then I repent and restore my original sacred words.”
    You always lift my spirits (no editing needed on this reply,..I think?).

    Reply
  12. robstroud says:
    May 14, 2025 at 1:02 pm

    “Just one more time…” Ah, the frustrating life of a writer.

    Well described!

    My friends and non-writing family, are often impressed by the final results of our efforts. But they have very little comprehension of how much struggle is involved in the self-editing of our work.

    Likewise they don’t understand the mixed feelings we have when we ultimately relinquish control of the final draft — while knowing in our hearts and minds that we could make it even better with just one more edit…

    Reply
  13. gattapazza says:
    May 14, 2025 at 1:37 pm

    La creatività richiede tempo e cambiamenti 🌟

    Reply
  14. Gerry Palermo says:
    May 14, 2025 at 2:20 pm

    LOL…sinful agnostic editing binges.

    Reply
  15. seekingdivineperspective says:
    May 14, 2025 at 2:38 pm

    Yep, very obsessive. Take out sentence, reverse these two sentences, move that paragraph … Can you imagine trying to do all that editing if the only thing you had was a typewriter?! Modern technology either preserves our sanity or renders us insane.

    Reply
    • mitchteemley says:
      May 14, 2025 at 5:17 pm

      Oh, I don’t need to imagine, Annie. I remember the days of typing double-spaced pages, printing them out, scribbling my rewrites in the spaces, and typing them again. And again. And again.

      Reply
  16. Nancy Homlitas says:
    May 14, 2025 at 3:18 pm

    An undeniable truth. 🙂

    Reply
  17. Caroll says:
    May 14, 2025 at 3:25 pm

    Mitch, this makes me laugh audibly! I vividly remember one of my favorite high school English teachers (who took a lot of extra time to help me learn to edit and polish my work) once told me, “You have a really good four page theme here…” except it was a six page theme! He also taught me the word “verbose.” I usually end up taking out two or three of my “favorite” paragraphs before I publish each of my blogs, when I re-read and realize those precious little details matter only to ME, not to my readers! Thanks for your honesty about what hard work writing is, especially for our Egos.

    Reply
  18. L.G. says:
    May 14, 2025 at 3:35 pm

    For real, great post

    Reply
  19. joynealkidney says:
    May 14, 2025 at 4:00 pm

    Editing is when you get to do sculpting! Enjoy it!

    Reply
  20. Maddie Cochere says:
    May 14, 2025 at 4:47 pm

    Sounds like you’re having fun, Mitch! I kind of love editing. I edit as I go along (editing previous chapters before starting to write for the day), and I make at least three more passes on the finished work before passing it on to proofreaders – one at a time. Carry on! 🙂

    Reply
  21. Ana Daksina says:
    May 14, 2025 at 5:55 pm

    I actually wrote a post once about how I never actually have to edit. But that’s the advantage of writing Shakespearean sonnets: go ahead and even TRY to edit them,, right? 🤣

    Reply
  22. thebpdcrisis says:
    May 14, 2025 at 6:01 pm

    I swear we do more editing than actual writing, lol.

    Reply
  23. artsandletters9 says:
    May 14, 2025 at 6:11 pm

    Early editing is fun. Late editing I try to avoid since I am late in life.

    Reply
  24. Danny*Fantod says:
    May 14, 2025 at 8:29 pm

    Every time I sit down to write I start by re-reading the story or essay I’m working on. Gives me a chance to edit it and remind myself of what I’m trying to say. I used to hate re-reading and re-writing. Now I do it obsessively.

    Reply
  25. pastorpete51 says:
    May 14, 2025 at 9:18 pm

    You are so write!…or rite…or maybe right. Yes that’s right. And it makes perfect cents… scents…sense Mitch!

    Reply
  26. #hood says:
    May 14, 2025 at 10:20 pm

    praying for cora

    Reply
  28. sandysbookaday says:
    May 15, 2025 at 12:27 am

    Rules are made to be broken. 😉

    Reply
  29. Vanya Wryter Consulting says:
    May 15, 2025 at 12:31 am

    Writing and editing binges are so easy to do! I hope you finish your story!

    Reply
  30. Terry says:
    May 15, 2025 at 3:29 am

    I even edit, edit, edit my posts here. That’s my ocd-ish personality kicking in. Best wishes on the completion of your book, Mitch.

    Reply
  31. Jeff Cann says:
    May 15, 2025 at 6:39 am

    Time to hit “send” Mitch.

    Reply
  32. mjeanpike says:
    May 15, 2025 at 7:15 am

    I love the editing process! The hard work of gathering the clay is done and what’s left is the fun of molding and shaping it 🙂

    Reply
  33. Pam Webb says:
    May 15, 2025 at 7:35 am

    Editing= write, revise, repeat.

    Reply
  34. Emma says:
    May 15, 2025 at 7:52 am

    Oh my goodness – you’re never done editing, hmm?

    Reply
  35. c.f. leach says:
    May 15, 2025 at 7:59 am

    Wrapping mine up too and this editing is a piece of work. Speaking of working, how you feeling these days my friend? Have a blessed week!

    Reply

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  37. Signora Sheila says:
    May 16, 2025 at 2:23 am

    Editing. Is it ever really done? Too bad we can’t go back and rewrite our lives…

    Reply
  38. Veronicah Musingi says:
    May 16, 2025 at 10:00 am

    Tried writing a book. Crime fiction to be precise. 11 chapters in, I thought of sharing it with my friends so that they could perhaps offer new insights that would help in broadening the story. Long story short, the feedback ended up being more dismantling than constructive. While I know critique is part of the process, the comments were overwhelming and left the structure of the story in disarray. It’s made me step back and reassess how to move forward without losing the core of what I was building.
    The amount of editing I’ve done??!

    Reply
  39. peggywritesblog says:
    May 16, 2025 at 3:06 pm

    So true, Mitch, I write short devotions and I bet I edit them 4 or 5 times before I post! 🤣

    Reply
  40. loujen haxm'Yor says:
    May 16, 2025 at 5:12 pm

    Years ago I wrote a 500 type-written page barbarian fantasy novel– which began as scraps of notes and index cards kept in a banker’s box. After the first draft, it hurt me to delete single sentences, never mind entire paragraphs. And after my wife read it, she made me put a whole flashback chapter as the beginning of the story. And because of my making up names of both people, places, foods, etc., I had to set up an “acceptable” library so as not to confuse any normal misspellings. Thank God for cut and paste on computers. With all the editing, it took me almost two years to finish it. However, if I went back today to read it, I would … not gonna happen!
    Good luck with your own piece of work, Mitch.

    Reply
  41. Mary K. Doyle says:
    May 17, 2025 at 8:02 pm

    Yes! Editing is imperative for a well-written piece.

    Reply
  42. Anna Waldherr says:
    May 18, 2025 at 8:40 pm

    Sounds familiar. 🙂

    Reply
  43. skyblueseagreen says:
    May 19, 2025 at 7:02 pm

    Excellent cartoon! Good reminder for us to always consider editing as important as creativity and writing drafts, even though it’s not as fun!

    Reply
  44. Rosepoint Publishing says:
    May 23, 2025 at 9:32 pm

    seems never enough edits as something else is always found.

    Reply
  45. gwengrant says:
    May 29, 2025 at 5:10 pm

    Almost until the paper gives way beneath my pen.
    Gwen.

    Reply
  46. Debbie says:
    June 3, 2025 at 8:38 pm

    I can’t wait to read your book!!

    Reply
  47. Cheryl Batavia says:
    June 4, 2025 at 5:14 pm

    If I edit, let it rest, edit again, let it rest…eventually, I get there! If I skip the let it rest part, I am likely to miss embarrassing typos and misspellings! All the best with the book, Mitch! 🌼

    Reply
  48. Christina says:
    June 10, 2025 at 8:38 pm

    Excellent but hard-to-follow advice that I have not applied: “write hot, edit cold.” We sometimes get too excited to wait for it to cool!

    Reply
  49. Marty Schoenleber, Jr. says:
    June 12, 2025 at 12:37 pm

    Spot on. Working on one right now that has “done” for a year, but has now been reread 12 times and edited in full each time. Ugh. It is better each time. It has shrunk and expanded and shrunk again, and I know I could yoyo back and forth for another 20 edits. Someone needs to shoot me before I go insane!

    Reply
  50. Anonymous says:
    June 13, 2025 at 12:29 pm

    As a wise editor and poet said to me, “sometimes you have to kill your darlings”. that’s the hardest part of writing, really… great post!

    Reply

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