David Wolverton / David Farland talking about editing

I just found this video on David Wolverton / David Farland talking about editing.  Very good. I used to mill about in my edits, blindly trimming or adding too much.  Wolverton clarifies the process, some of which I learned slowly just by going over and over manuscripts.  Here he lays it out so clearly.  He says he needs six revisions per manuscript.  Cat Rambo said that Andy Duncan recommended nine.

In following Duncan's advice, I uncovered or discovered items I'd brushed over.  Stuff I let slide become irritants, and I have to figure out a better way of saying it.  You get tired of the dead weight, so you hack and slash the lifeless prose.  It becomes a test of "Do you want to read it again?  What makes it worth reading multiple times?"

Interesting quote:

"A great story offends half its audience. It polarizes. It doesn't try to please everybody. It makes them think about things in life. An rating of 2.5 rating. Half love it, half hate it." -- Robert Sawyer and Dave Wolverton / David Farland in conversation