Let’s face it. First drafts are messy and choppy. Their only merit is one of being finished. I am a NanoWrimo writer. That means I have written four first drafts in literally four weeks each. Here are some tips that I have learnt while editing your own work:
1. If writing first draft is fast in NanoWrimo, editing is slow
Different part of your brain is utilized when on auto pilot and when focusing and thinking slow. Editing is a slow process, it requires focus on detail like drawing a sketch. Edit slow.
2. Putting away the first draft is as important as editing
To be a true change agent (of your own manuscript,) it is important to detach emotion. It is a key attribute of a great feedback whether critiquing others’ work or your own. And, why would you not put in your best frame of mind for yourself? The detachment needs time after you have spent weeks with the characters, loving and hating them all along. Detachment fosters fresh perspective.
Have you noticed that it is easier to see flaws in another’s writing than your own? If so, bring the distance that exists when critiquing another’s work to your own by putting it away for a period of time.
3. Read a manuscript completely before making an editing plan
First revisions involve cutting unnecessary scenes or moving scenes around. In order to do so, it is important to get a holistic view of the big picture.
So, read through before coming up with a plan. But when you read, highlight the areas you want to focus on. When you read, challenge yourself on the value each section adds to the book.
4. Make plot and flow revisions first
Plot revisions are first because these involve massive chopping. Why edit a section that could be chopped? Plot revisions are first because it also involves moving scenes around, heightening conflict, adding and removing from the story in general. Once the plot is in place, you can focus on the little edits.
Few points to look for as a detached reader of your own work are:
a. Does the writing invoke emotions in you such as fear, sadness, joy, worry?
b. Do you evoke all the five senses of smell, sight, touch, sound or taste?
c. Is there a common thread of a goal through all the sections in your writing? A written work must have a message. Never lose sight of the message.
d. Are there segments that make you want to put the book down and not read on?
5. Put the manuscript away in between editing
Attachment is a sneaky emotion. It comes unannounced and settles unnoticed. Even during editing, attachment to characters, lines, etc. happens. So, space out editing by constant doses of detachment. Detachment fosters neutral opinion.
When spending time away from your book, read. Read other books. Read books on improving your writing. I recommend reading “Structuring your novel” by K.M. Weiland and “Don’t Murder Your Mystery” by Chris Roerden.
6. Work on characters and plot via exercises
Perform specific editing to:
a. Deepen characters / deepen conflict / deepen value
b. Ground settings and time
c. Heighten conflicts / Escalate stakes
d. Add tension
e. Planting questions / hooks to add mystery
There are several exercises I recommend furthering these editing concerns:
a. People watch – spend an hour at a busy location like a café or the city park or the train station and observe the dialect of people, their attire and mannerisms. See if that inspires your writing.
b. Research timelines and facts in your book.
c. Perform activities prescribed by experts such as activities from Donald Maass’s “The Breakout Novelist.”
7. Dialogue editing
Do a special round of editing for dialogues. Keep your characters honest to their own voice through the course of your book. Make sure your dialogues are not circular but believable. Make sure to add action beats to your dialogues and sprinkle it with adequate emotion.
8. Look out for overly-used words as well as vague words
Now, you are at a stage where your plot has been hammered, characters have been fleshed out, and the end is on the horizon. Previous rounds of editing would have given you an idea on words you tend to overuse. Hopefully, they are highlighted at this point. Do a word count on them and see if those can be mixed up. Other commonly used words to edit are:
a. Was / were / are
b. That / this
c. Something / thing
d. Stuff
e. Adverbs such as *ly (very, really, slowly…)
f. Then (Lines of your book are happening in chronological order. “Then” should be sparsely used to emphasize.)
g. Seemed
h. Felt
Also, check if there are some negatives that can turn into positives as positives tend to read better.
9. Edit on different platforms
Grammar and line level edits have a way of disappearing. There are tricks to catch them in the flow of reading.
Try reading your manuscript on a different device like a phone, a tablet, a big monitor screen. Changing environment is notorious for highlighting the mistakes (that word processor skips.) Print out the manuscript and edit with a red pen. Have your word editor read out the manuscript for you. Microsoft Word has a read aloud feature.
10. Lastly, edit from last chapter to first.
Ties into the previous point, is one of the tricks to catching more errors in your own writing. Want to force detachment to your story? Edit last chapter first and make your way in. This will prevent you from getting swept into your story where you start to read fast to know what happens next versus reading slow and hard.
Writing is hard work. Let yourself be your first critique but be careful while editing if you tend to be too harsh on yourself. When making notes on what to edit, also write down what you like in the writing that you wish not to change.
Happy editing and wish you the world’s best luck for all the steps that follow from editing to seeing your book on the bookshelf of a major retailer.