Last week, I spoke about the importance of taking a short break in between writing your first draft and revising your manuscript. Therefore, it’s only natural that this week, I talk about the next stage of the process: the early steps of editing a novel. Here a few tips and pointers for debate.
Matthew C. Wright via Compfight
Sort out those typos!
Many authors and bloggers argue that the ‘right’ way to start editing is to ignore the typos initially, and go straight into a structural/content edit. I tried this, but due to the fact that I hadn’t edited my first draft as I wrote it, I found it highly frustrating. So, you have my permission to iron out any niggling typos or grammatical issues as a first step, if you wish. Nothing major though: don’t go rewriting scenes just yet. Make sure you simply take the time to tidy it all up so that you have something that resembles more of a book than the ramblings of a madman. If your book is the ramblings of a madman, then you can gladly skip this step.
Create a map of your novel
Roz Morris argues that all writers should create a ‘beat sheet’ of scenes in your novel, which is basically a big spreadsheet outlining the content of your book, with highlights of scenes to edit, and the like. This can be a fun stage for the visual learners amongst us, however I found myself simply using the beat sheet as an overview ahead of an editing guide. Feel free to follow Roz’s fantastic advice if you wish, or if you’re less of a fan of colourful planning and pretty highlighting, it’s still a good document to have to get a grasp on how your novel develops. More important than line editing right now, is understanding what works and what doesn’t in your book. A beat sheet is a great way to assess this.
Now for the BIG read through…
Yes, I know; you want to hurry up and get editing your novel, and all this reading through seems like a lot to be doing without actually getting anywhere, but you’ll be surprised just how far it takes you. With What We Saw, I certainly was. This time, read through your printed manuscript/iPad PDF/anything but the screen you wrote it on, with a pen and paper in hand. Every time you spot an inconsistency, jot it down. A moment that comes off as too melodramatic? Make a note. What you’re essentially creating is a working checklist of things to edit. A mistake I made initially with my What We Saw checklist was not splitting it up into digestible chunks. I suggest individual sessions of analysing twenty-pages, which should translate to the final edit nicely.
I’m currently in the process of implementing my checklist changes. I intend to read through it all once more when I’ve finished to make the necessary final tweaks, before sending it to an editor. Edit, edit, edit – I hate the sound of that bloody word.
How do you edit your work? What initial steps do you take after completing the first read through of your manuscript?
My first task was to print out my First Draft and then flourish my red pen, cutting through the prose as if I was weiding a scythe in a wheat field.
I still have that paperwork, a year and a half on, and boy, does it look messy. But I can also look back and see how, twelve drafts on, my work has evolved.
I find that working on paper is much more efficient than working electronically. The (my) brain picks up errors that my eyes simply skip past on a screen – I proved it only the other day. Perhaps that’s part of how we read – the mind reads what it expects to see.
Anyway – enough rambling. First step – print it out! Not only do you have a fresh working medium, but you have, possibly for the first time since you plunged into this mad rambling, tangible evidence that you didn’t dream the whole thing.
And if your computer suddenly turns up its toes…you still have a real-world back-up!
Win-win.
Great advice Andrew! I think you make a great point regarding printing it out. I for one am obsessive about making sure I have loads of copies backed up, so having a printed copy is a good way to ease your fears.