An Impenetrable Abyss?

The trick with editing is to do bite sized pieces

So, in this scene, X needs to change in this way.

In this chapter, I need to change Z

You change the little things, here and there, so it feels bite sized. By the end, you have big changes.

Changing a character from a cardboard cutout can (not always!) be as little as changing a few lines of dialogue, adding a reaction here and there. Give them a reason to react the way they do. One that is due to them, not the plot.

Some days it will be easy

Some days you have to be the Editing Train That Could *chuff chuff chuff*

It is likely only you will be able to tell the difference in the finished scenes.

Just me, but I would not start editing based on one persons feedback.

Do you feel the points are valid? If so, then an edit, although tough going, mostly always produces a better story, at least it has for me.

G.G. Rebimik said:

Just me, but I would not start editing based on one persons feedback.

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Unless they are the Person That Bought The Book

It depends on who says it. If both my betas say the same thing...I change it. If my editor says change it, I may well do (not always).


Even so, weigh it all up. Do you agree with the comments? If so, change is in order. Do you not agree? Think about it before your dismiss it. Think if you can change things in a different way. Other readers are great at pointing out problems, not so good at pointing out how to make it better. Think about what they say, think about other ways to show this scene, this thing that they have a problem with

There is always a different way. Then your choice becomes..which way do you want it? Usually, he new version is better. For me anyway. Because my editor make s FAB notes that inspire me

I don't think you will have as much trouble as you seem to think you will. I found it surprisingly simple to bring a bit more life to one of my characters. Though neither beta mentioned it, I worried that one of my guys could be considered a plot device. He is killed half-way through the novel, and his death sends his friend (the MC) on a mission of revenge.

All I did was to tuck in a little more description, add a few bits to scenes where he played a part. Now he is, IMO, more vivid than ever. It's not that hard, honest.

You might consider posting in Share Your Work to get feedback from other writers, feedback beyond the casual comments you mentioned. Of course, that may be a next step after your current revision.

Pick one element and start with it. Then move on to the next element. You'll get it done.

I spent a good seven years frozen after finishing my first novel and sending it out. I was SO sure I'd just written the next Great Novel. The shock of realizing my novel was instead a total wreck was hugely painful. I buried the novel and the critiques in the bottom of a drawer and pretended neither had ever happened.

But... I still wanted to write. So I kept on writing, but never finishing anything. I'd put all this work and effort into my books and then give up at the 90% mark to move onto a new project.

The thing that got me out of this cycle was a book on creative blocks called 'The Artist's Way.' Not only did it help me face the terror of the book I'd buried, but it really gave me a new outlook on my work and myself as a write. I really can't recommend it enough if you are dealing with a pit of fear yourself.

And I think knowing that it is normal helped me too. So many of us go through this. And interestingly enough in a lot of ways it was the best thing that could have happened to me. Yes, I wrote a bunch of books that I will never finish, but by the time I resolved my issues and did finish a book my craft was miles ahead of where I'd been.

That was my last book. It didn't find a home either, but the process wasn't nearly as painful and I came away from it having learned several hugely important things about the importance of tension on every page and plot holes. So I don't regret the journey at all.

Anyway, that's my 20% of a nickel. Cheers.

Rachel

Mr. Fibble has good advice. Break it into manageable chunks. You can do this!

Mr. Flibble has it exactly right -- bite-size chunks.

If you print your MS, you can scribble notes in the margins (or on Post-It notes) and check them off as you complete something. If not, make a list of all the things that need done, and check them off as you go. Maybe for your reticent character, sit down and write a bit from his POV. Get his backstory and any little tidbits you can glean from him. Then add in what you think fits the story best.

You can do it! We've all been there.

Another vote for Mr Flibble's bite sized chunks.

One other thought. You don't always have to edit in a linear way - starting from page one and ending at the end. Instead you can hop from one bit to another correcting and polishing as you go.

So if you have a problem with one character you can use the search function to find his or her name. Then hop to each time they appear in the novel and work on that. It's like editing a smaller version of your novel where you only look at scenes which feature that character.

The editing phase in a book can feel a little uncomfortable, but it is an essential stage when we polish and tweak to make the book look its best.

By sheer coincidence, I blogged about this a couple of days ago.

The Good Typist said:

Well, I have the first, lightly edited draft of my novel done, and I've gotten some feedback from a friend, some of which was a little daunting. I've taken some time away from the novel, and I'm ready to start working on it again. But now I feel like I'm staring into an impenetrable abyss of unfixable issues. Part of the feedback I got that bothers me the most is that one of key characters feels like a plot device rather than a character in his own right. And there are other issues, like the ending is too rushed. So now I just feel frozen. I have no idea where to start or how to go about this in an orderly fashion. I'll probably figure it out, but right now I just feel like a deer in the headlights. It feels silly to have finished an entire novel, which I had no fear about writing, only to now be frozen with fear and confusion. I just needed to express that! Thank you for listening.

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Just reading other novels for a while really helps. You can read something in a completely different genre from your own novel and it will still help refresh you memory about craft, then you can layer in more elements to your character that is too basic and add more to your ending that is too rushed. Rushing an ending is a very common beginner mistake, but look at how good novels really draw out endings. It's a lot of work writing a satisfying ending.

This character is very reticent and doesn't talk much, so that might be what he is responding to.

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Have the character do or say something unexpected--for you, that is.
It doesn't have to be something profound. If the MC offers him a cup of coffee, have him gently refuse and ask for tea instead. Maybe he is afraid of spiders, or finds Chihuahuas creepy. It doesn't take a major re-write to humanize a character.

Also, is this novel written in first person? I ask because the novel of my life is filled with people who are more or less plot devices. My boss is a plot device that makes my work day a little more surreal, for example.

I don't think I can offer good advice on fixing your character, since I'm not sure what the specific issues are, but I've had to deal with the same critique for one my endings, which a friend of mine thought was rushed. I think that perhaps in my case, I was so excited about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel that maybe I literally did rush the ending. I found that stepping away for a while and treating the ending as a new and exciting process helped rejuvenate the way that I looked at it.

Also, I don't think it's unusual to feel discouraged about the editing process. It feels like such a huge accomplishment to finish a first draft, and then you have to start all over with the boring ol' edits, which are obviously important, but certainly not very fun or creative. It's a different process, and one that is hard to be passionate about.

As to your friends that haven't gotten back to you, they probably haven't read it. I only say that because I gave my first novel out to many, many people and only one person read it and bothered to comment. Nobody else cracked the first page. It sucks, but time is a difficult thing for people to give.