When self-editing.. Is it just me or do others experience the same?

[Guest]

When self-editing you would expect to end up with a lower word count having cut words or phrases or even whole sections but somehow I always end up with more words. Is it just me or do others experience the same?

[AJ~]

Self-editing demands discipline. I focus on two distinct areas, clear cut mistakes - spelling, syntax etc. and line editing for clarity and flow. I do one at a time, and n'e'er the twain shall meet.

A professional editor would tell you 'editing' is synonymous with 'reducing' and that's probably because they can be detached from the narrative and cut, cut, cut. When self-editing, it usually results in more.

[Paula]

Same, unless I am intentionally cutting the fat. Sometimes, on a later read you notice what should have been said and wasn't.

[Steve]

If you have more, you're not really editing, you're redrafting. (And you will need to edit all the new stuff...in effect the whole thing because you have to examine the relationship between the new and existing). I don't use the term self editing, I prepare a manuscript to get it ready for professional editing; because any editor, or author with a modicum of industry knowledge, will tell you, you can't edit your own work.

[Brian]

Almost any time I go back over my work, new ways to embellish come to mind and my word count grows.

[Jerold]

I agree with the commenter who said you’re really revising, not editing. If you were editing judiciously, you’d likely be cutting a few words or phrases from each page.

[Aja]

Going through a ms. or mine that wind up shorter, and others that wind up longer. It's not about length; it's about what's needed to do the job.

[Ed -]

In my not-so-humble opinion, editing doesn't mean cutting., It means refining. It means strengthening. It means building. Adding. Subtracting. It means paying deeper attention to rhythm and pacing. If cutting happens, it happens - but only as a result of all of the above. The creative process is ongoing.

[Vivienne]

Sounds like you are still in the revision stage, not editing.

[Kevin]

The same thing happens when I edit. Editing is not just cutting or correcting. It includes making sure that your readers will be able to understand what you are communicating. This often means expanding certain things for clarity or readability.