Editing: Doing it 'right'.

Editing is correcting writing. So any mistakes in the writing, grammar/usage/clarity/story/characters/etc. should be on the table for editing.

These are my steps:
(All in chapters, but my chapters vary from 500-6000words)

1. Write it. (First Draft)
2. Comb through. (Grammar, misspellings, switched words, odd wording)
3. Sit back, ponder on what to fix the story and where holes might be.
4. Organize corrections.
5. Start rewriting scenes.
6. Revise some scenes, without revise.
7. Check if rewriting is needed for 6 (Revise Draft)
8. Comb through.
9. Edit for clarity. (Action scenes, long dialogue, difficult parts)
10. Edit to tighten. (Shorten sentences, combine likewise sentences and combine paragraphs)
11. Read through, combing and editing lightly
12. Let it rest. (Last Draft)
13. Get betas and see what they think.
14. Make necessary edits.
15. Publish. (Final Draft)

That said, I've made it to number 14 and haven't gone farther.

Currently, I'm between 5 and 11, flipping back and forth with part 1 with 11 and part 2 with 5. Confusing, I know.


When you're ready to put it out? Never, there can always be a correction. But when you're confident enough, the beta's feel good and you simply can't stab at the story to find a mistake; I would suspect that's when you put it out.

Hope this helps.

I'm about to start, and this is how I'm tackling it:

1. As I write, I make notations by sections I'm not happy with. I also jot down things that need overall improvement--more description, better words, more of this character, etc.
2. Let it sit for at least a month--I've left it for two.
3. Read it aloud. You hear things differently in your mind. Download read-aloud software if it's easiest/more convenient for you.
4. Before you do any major hacking, let someone else read it--my beta has saved a few sections that weren't as terrible as I thought.
5. I actually like to let someone read the entire first draft before I do any editing beyond grammar and word choice. A fresh pair of eyes can spot the weak points I don't even know exist.
6. For me, chapter by chapter. It's much less daunting then sitting there going "OMG. 75,000 words. Must be fixed. 75K." Or you can say "First 5K today. Then 5k tomorrow."

I have a weird system that I stick to. In the spirit of Will's post:

1. Write rough draft.
(1.) As I write, I make notes of plot holes, things I want to add or change, etc.
2. Finish it and LET IT SIT before I touch it again.
3. At this point, I have every part of it organized by scene, so I glob the scenes into chapters.
4. I do my first read through and add everything in my notes, highlighting any awkward phrasing that I need to redo. At this point, if I am going to change something altogether and not simply tighten the prose, I remove it and rewrite the scene.
5. I make sure all chapters flow together, and have a hook and a proper ending so that it doesn't read like it just got slapped together.
6. Read again, highlighting any issues I see without editing, making notes while necessary. I also do a search edit at this point, where I search a for list of words I tend to repeat and highlight any use that's unneeded or excessive.
7. Go through and apply these changes.
8. Let it sit some more.
9. Read through, this time out loud, making changes as I go along.
10. Let it sit.
11. Read again, making final changes.
12. It's finished - store it away forever and move onto my next project

I'm in my third draft stage of my novel as we speak, about stage 11 on Will's list, but I will tell you things I have learnt from the process.

1. Failure to prepare is preparing to fail! - write a synopsis first, by labelling out every chapter and what is going to happen. This may change along the line, but it helps you keep the consistency.

2. List your characters and any notes about them. For example: Orlando - red eyes, brown hair, sword: Blaze. You'd be surprised how quickly you forget things during the writing process!

3. Start an appendix of things, just so you remember certain dates, names, minor characters, histories, events/order of events

4. I usually create a separate document and I will note which chapter I need to do/add something in. By the end of my first draft I had 7 pages and now in the third draft I have just under 1.


But yeah, as for it being 'ready', I doubt any writer has thought their novel is 'ready' but around the third/fourth draft after beta-reading, you are going to have to take the plunge and test the waters if it is good enough for agents/publishers.

I do it a little differently, but it may be a habit I've gotten into having written fanfic for fifteen years. I like to write each chapter four full times, the first draft and three revisions, plus one revision for minor things. I think I got in this habit because I published fanfic by the chapter instead of waiting until 100,000 words was written, so I had to do all revisions chapter by chapter.

1) Start first draft, writing the scene once, then waiting a week and rewriting it once more to smooth jagged edges.
2) While writing, if anything happens that needs to be foreshadowed in previous chapters or changes anything in previous chapters, go back and make extensive notes on what should be changed in that chapter so I won't forget to do it.
2) Finish first draft
3) Send to beta readers while beginning rewrites.
4) Go chapter by chapter, re-writing each one for better plot, smoother prose--also make corrections brought up by betas (1st full rewrite)
5) Go chapter by chapter, re-writing each for tighter prose, working out all excess (2nd full re-write)
6) Send this draft to beta readers
7) Go through, revising anything small that should be changed.
8) Set it down for a few weeks
9) Come back, read it aloud, and show it to friends and betas
10) Fix any problems brought up
And finis!

NOTE: I don't necessarily do the chapter rewrites in sequential order.

I just edit/revise as I write. Done - until the betas get through with it anyway.

I do some light editing during the early stages but generally wait until the book is finished. When I edit, I often like to edit chapter by chapter in reverse order. When I go through in order, I have a tendency to start reading and getting lost in my book instead of editing it.

I mark everything yellow in word, do a full edit once, remark everything i don't like, rinse repeat until I'm only changing lines or parts due to wording etc. Works for me but I got no idea if it's the best way. What I like about the system I use is, by un-marking after I made a part better, I can edit pieces at random and don't get bored re-doing what I just drafted in the same order.

One key thing for me is to separate out the content (story editing) from the grammar (proofreading). If I try to edit both at the same time I miss things. It took me some practice, but the ability to turn off the big picture, to just read the words as a bunch of separate words without meaning, actually let me catch more typos. Otherwise, if you read for the story, especially one your wrote, your mind tends to fill in the corrections automatically since it knows what you meant and where you're going.

You still need to do the story editing, I just think it helps to consciously separate them.

I don't do it much differently than I do short fiction , it just takes longer.

But I do have a list of words I do searches on to make sure I used them correctly or if I used them too much.


For instance, I've never gotten its/it's correct, so I search for that.


I also use "but" too much, so I search for that and try to rewrite those sentences.

Only the first step:

Write the synopsis first, if you didn't before drafting. Who is this character, what is at risk for her/him/it, what strong need makes her/him/it feel compelled to go on, and how will the journey of the novel change her/him/it? How does each big scene make it harder to reach the goal? Get it straight in the synopsis first, and you'll see where to tear in structurally.

When you see you do have a solid arc, you'll still be able to clarify and strengthen that in revisions.

I totally get that paralyzing feeling. I'm in the process of my first re-write of my first novel, which clocked in at 100,000 words, a terrifying amount for me.

I have similar strategies to those listed above, but I wanted to add that printing my entire manuscript out, reading the hard copy, then line editing with a red pen and multi-colored highlighters was very helpful. A lot of pages look like war zones, and some have big red Xs across the whole thing, but that's sort of the fun of it. For me, it just seems more manageable on paper than on a computer screen.

1. Write it as clean as I can.
2. Read through it, fixing small errors and making note of problems as I go.
3. Go back and fix what I noted.
4. Get a crit from a trusted writer friend.
5. Go back, assess what the friend noted, fix issues.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 two times or as needed.
7. Do one final cleanup run, fixing typos, and formatting.
8. Write a synopsis and query letter.
9. Send in.

As for the beta issue... find one who knows more about the biz and genre than you do and is willing to take time to point out your biggest writing pitfalls and how to fix them. How? I found my crit group online, in a chat room. I hung out with other writers and made friends. Some of them took me under their wings and taught me.

Depends on what you're editing for. Grammer, spelling, etc., I do in the same pass through the manuscript. I'll also look for overuse of adverbs, adjectives, and other such details.

I make a separate pass, or more, when I'm looking at plot and character development. Does every plot point connect well? Are character actions reasonable? Is it clear by the end how everything comes together or is more explanation needed here or elsewhere? These are harder questions to address because as the author, we're intimately familiar with the story we want to tell, and we think we've told it. By the end, it's hard to be objective about it. This is where a beta reader can come in handy. A "this doesn't make sense" comment can clue you into the need to make more connections or insert some explanation.

The thought of editing a book length piece scares the hell out of me. As does rewriting.

I think the first step is figuring out if you have the story you want to tell down. If not, add or subtract until you have it.

Then I have to deal with it as a series of scenes. Rewriting and reworking each until they accomplish what I want them to accomplish and in the way I want it accomplished. This step can take a couple drafts.

Then its polish time. Polish, polish, polish. Then polish, polish, polish. Then really polish.

Then agonize over the idea of someone else reading it.

The first couple of drafts I find myself adding to the story: finishing off loose ends, adding parts of minor plot threads I've failed to follow up, beefing up characters, important scenes, etc. This is important, as it allows me to make sure I haven't left anything out.

Then I begin cutting back, performing "that-ectomies", pruning unnecessarily long sentences, paragraphs, and sections. I trim dialogue where necessary at this point, because in the beginning, I write it as it would naturally appear, with repeats, clarifications, and long, drawn-out conversations, etc. I start chopping ruthlessly, trimming each sentence back to say only what I mean and nothing more.

It's at this point, I follow Kurt Vonnegut's best advice: "Each sentence should do one of two things, reveal character or advance the action."

I find that by doing this, my novels start out just over the length I wish them to be, swell to far more than advised, and then shrink back to the proper length. And most of that is in the prose.

I don't edit as I go (aside from maybe running the spell checker over it.) So I come to the draft and I work big to small.

• First I read it without making any kind of changes or making notes while writing. I do this on my Kindle now. I want to create as near as possible the experience of just reading a book.
• After that's done then I'll make some notes about the issues I've spotted and think about how I'll change them.
• I make a new outline of the story, scene by scene as it actually happens in the draft.
• Working from this I then make yet another outline, of what the edited version will become. I move scenes, delete them, merge them, split them, mark where I want new ones and make notes against them of what changes are needed. (I do all this in MS One Note by the way.)
• I select chapters and mark them in this outline (I rarely do chapters in the draft.)
• Finally I get back to the draft (well, a copy of it! Always hang on to the original) and rearrange the scenes according to the outline, mark the chapters and maybe add in some notes, then I print it out - single sided, double spaced.
• Deploy the red pen! Or the green pen or the purple pen, or whatever. I take it chapter by chapter. I mark up the changes, then go and apply the changes to that chapter. Edit, polish it, bring it to pretty much a completed state, then move on to the next chapter. I work my way chapter by chapter through the MS. I try to concentrate just on that chapter, not thinking about the whole hulking mass of the story still to do. The editing outline is constantly at my side and being tweaked as I go through.
• When I've got to the end I go through for one last polishing pass. At this stage I'll also double check for continuity and consistency, go through my hit list of overused words and finally spell check it for any last typos I haven't spotted yet.
• Done! All that's left is to format it for submission, write the synopsis and query it. And if it sells, to start a whole load of new edits with the publisher!

I quite enjoy editing. Gives me time to see the story take shape and/or go off in directions I didn't expect. Generally, it goes like this for me:

1. Come up with a rough outline of scenes and characters.
2. Write the first draft.
3. Leave it for a month.
4. Read through, making notes of problems, plotlines to cut/develop.
5. Edit with the notes of 4. in mind. Add new scenes as needed. While doing this, jot down the final points to fix.
6. Fix those final points (which are mainly the issues I know I cock up every time).
7. Have a final read through to check for anything I've missed and make sure each scene/chapter adds to the story.
8. Have a few lagers.

Still figuiring out how it works for me but what I've got so far is this:

1) Make outline
2) Write first draft
3) Skim over for spelling, format, obvious typos
4) Start writing synopsis for each chapter, fix sentence issues come across, make a note of problems as go through
5) Print out first few chapters
6) Attack with coloured pens
7) Edit said chapters
8) Get a group of people to look at it a chapter at a time, edit again on feedback
9) Somewhere in there fix plot holes came across in synopsis
10) Repeat points 5-8 for next chapters
11) Get betas to look at it (chapters and whole thing)
12) Revise on feedback
13) Repeat 11-12 until I'm relatively satisfied
14) Submit to agents/publishers
15) Revise after a certain amount of rejections
16) Repeat 14-15 until published.

Anninyn said:

Yeah, yeah, there's probably no such thing as wrong or right with editing.

I think I'm learning how to do it 'properly', at least with shorter works, but the idea of editing a novel-length work is paralysing.

How do you, well, do it? Chapter by chapter, making notes of bigger errors that need sorting (plot holes etc) seems like it would make the most sense, but what if it's not? I've been wrong with things before.

And, the perennial question, how should a rank amateur know when it's ready to go out? I may have edited for the wrong bits, or missed things, or...

I do get Beta Readers which I'm hoping over time will teach me how to spot what needs to be changed, but I can't get everything Beta Read.

Basically...

How do I make sure I'm editing my work in the most effective manner?

Click to expand...

As you intuited, there's no "right" way to edit, only the best method for you.

Honestly, I think the key to good editing is to leave your story alone for a while and come back to it fresh. Come back to it as a reader and don't be afraid to change things. I know this is nothing new, but it's really what works.

Personally, I haven't had a problem with "Golden Word" syndrome per se. I'm more than happy to shred my own words to pieces. But when it comes to scenes and ideas, I sometimes cling to them. Don't do that! Don't be afraid to cut the Gordian knot and switch things around. An example: Something about the beginning of my story just didn't work for me. It was hard to put my finger on exactly why, but as soon as I stepped back, I realized that all I had to was change the setting and--click--it worked.

As far as my editing: I write, re-read, edit as I go, come to the end, let it sit, and come back to it. Because I edit as I go, I usually end up with the story as I want it and with clean copy. I have to go back and clean up some things for continuity, and when I go back with fresh eyes I can always improve the prose. But at least I'm not intimidated by a mountain of things to change.

I'm an edit and rewrite as I go writer. When I finish a page, I go back to to the start, and edit/rewrite until it's as perfect as I can make it. Then I move on to the next page. I edit/rewrite not only for what is on that page, but to make certain it fits all the story that came before that page.

The thought of having to edit/rewrite/revise an entire novel terrifies me. With one page at a time, when I'm done, I'm done.

Others have said this, but I'll elaborate on the steps I use.

I make a hardcopy and read the entire manuscript through without stopping to make changes. I have a red pen and a couple of highlighters at hand. If I see a spelling error, I highlight the word in one color and keep going. If I see an error in grammar or a clunky or confusing sentence (or sentences), I highlight in another color. But the real reason I give it a straight-through read is to get a feel for the flow of the scenes and chapters, the tone of the various scenes, and the coherence and flow of the overall story arc. Also, any plot holes or glitches will show up here. If I see any problems, or more important, areas where I think the reader will have an issue or a problem, I make a few notes in the margin the move on. If I need to add something, I make a quick notation, and if something seems to be unnecessary, I redline through it for a later decision on cutting/trimming. When I'm through the entire story, I go through and make the changes and do the re-writes. Sometimes I'll switch scenes around.

I'll usually give this second draft a subsequent edit--this one like JAR's, but with individual scenes instead of individual pages. Here, I'm looking specifically at tone, pace, and other details at the scene level. I usually don't need a further line edit, but I'll do some global word searches from my personal list of danger words/phrases. After changes are made, it is ready for beta readers.

Jamesaritchie said:

I'm an edit and rewrite as I go writer. When I finish a page, I go back to to the start, and edit/rewrite until it's as perfect as I can make it. Then I move on to the next page. I edit/rewrite not only for what is on that page, but to make certain it fits all the story that came before that page.

The thought of having to edit/rewrite/revise an entire novel terrifies me. With one page at a time, when I'm done, I'm done.

Click to expand...

This sounds interesting but I'm such a slow reader, if I went back to read everything just to edit the last page the further along I got it would start taking me days to just reread before editing that page.