You Type ‘End’, breathe a huge sigh of relief, and get ready to self-edit.
But there’s a problem: you have absolutely no idea where to begin.
Do you flesh out your world some more, spruce up your dialogue, tie loose plot threads? How about tighten action sequences, ensure each character is distinct, or… or… argh!
Trying to figure out what to tackle first can get overwhelming; especially when there are so many things niggling at you, begging for attention.
Before the vice-like grip of decision paralysis takes hold, putting you off editing altogether, keep reading for some tips on how to set yourself up for an effective editing session.
Take a breather
If you’ve read this a million times already, it’s because the advice really works: take a breather. How long is up to you. It could be a week, a month, three months. Take as long as you need. After all, it’s been an arduous journey, and if you haven’t already, take the time to really appreciate all you’ve accomplished.
As the writer, it’s impossible to have that fresh, first-time reading experience. But having a break can provide the detachment to mimic this, if only slightly. And you’re going to need this distance when editing. If you try to revisit your story just after finishing it, all those ‘Ugh, this reads like crap, I’ll come back later’ moments that’ve built up will blind you to what you really need to address first.
That, and writing and editing can be emotionally and cognitively draining, and a break will help you recharge.
When you come back, reflect
Do you feel ready?
Are you stressed? Do you have time? Are you in the right frame of mind, or are distractions coming at you like a ton of bricks? If you answer ‘Yes’ to any of these, perhaps now isn’t the right time. Take a walk or a drive, listen to music, or do something else and see if this changes your mental state. Your break may not have been long enough. There’s no shame in admitting you need a little longer.
Be realistic
Just like anything else, don’t make promises to yourself that you can’t keep. Don’t commit to an hour or two every day. If you know you only have a certain amount of energy in you at your planned editing time, don’t plan to do double!
However, do…
Make a routine
Just as you may have done with writing, carve a time out of your day (at a set time or spend a few minutes in the morning to plan out the day ahead) to turn up and do the work.
Otherwise, you’ll end up making excuses as to why now isn’t the best time – I could do this instead, that table needs dusting, the planets are misaligned!
Set up your arena
Eliminate distractions in your working environment. If clutter frustrates you, spend a few minutes sorting it out. If you work well with music, get your playlist sorted. Do what you need to do to enter your space in a clear, stress-free state.
Remove the pressure
Writing is hard. Editing is hard. Rewriting is hard! Don’t feel you’ve failed if you don’t get tons done. Do only what you can, and nothing more, and keep in mind some days will be more productive than others.
Revisit your story’s roots
There’s no real right or wrong to what a story should be or how it should be written – besides it being one that matches the author’s intention. Many will disagree with me on this (and that’s fine, I welcome discussion), but I firmly believe that you, the writer, should write for yourself, first and foremost. Not the reader. Not the publisher. You.
If you don’t love your story, are not filled with passion and pride when you think of it, then how can you expect others to love it too?
Before your story got to where it is today, something inspired you to write it. You took that initial spark and cultivated it, sculpting those formless shapes into something more concrete, adding characters and building a world and weaving in backstory and lore. All because it meant something to you. Meant enough for you to write 50, 70, 100 thousand words about it. You had a vision.
Does your story still ring true to it?
Think back to when you were first playing with those new ideas. (Or, if you’re an outliner or write everything down, you’ll have some notes with those shiny ideas triple underlined and circled already.) What inspired you? What themes did you want to explore?
Take some time to relive how you felt when these ideas took root, then think about what your story is now. Has your story played out how you wanted it? It may have, or not. Neither is wrong – after all, years may have passed between now and then; life’s experiences may have changed your outlook and shifted those values you’d held that prompted the story.
If your story still holds true to your original vision, great! If it doesn’t, are you comfortable with the change in direction?
Knowing this answer will help guide you with the editing process.
You, the writer, should write for yourself, first and foremost. Not the reader. Not the publisher. You.
Do an intentional reading pass
So, you’re ready to get stuck in. But that doesn’t mean making changes straight away. This is where you read your draft cover to cover to diagnose the main issues. This sizing up of your story is a reality check, which can be daunting, so make it a bit of a ‘date’: get comfy, grab some snacks, and dive in open-minded.
It’s easier said than done, but read at a normal pace, not allowing yourself to get distracted by awkward sentences you’re itching to fix – your focus is the story. As you go along, note problem areas that stand out, such as times when pacing seems to crawl, a scene is overwritten, a character’s reaction to something or their emotions aren’t explored fully, or nothing is really happening to advance the plot.
(Again, don’t be tempted to fix anything yet; just flag it and move on.)
Use whatever system that works for you, be it colour-coded highlights (e.g., red for lack of tension, blue for character-related issues) or making notes only after you’ve read a chapter. During my initial reading pass when I edit, I read the manuscript on my Kindle (so I’m away from my desk), using its note system to flag potential issues.
At the end of each chapter I describe, as briefly as possible, significant plot events and character goals/motivations – ignoring all the build-up, character interactions, etc., an entry for a chapter may be simply ‘dead body found, MC (main character) decides to hide it’ or ‘MC’s formal magic training begins. They realise they’re not as good as they thought’.
This is a great way to map the narrative’s ‘spine’ and reveal any chapters that repeat the same purpose, don’t follow a cause-and-effect pattern (what happens now is a result of what came before), or have nothing important going on.
Sort out and prioritise your notes
You’ve read your manuscript, and now you’re left staring at a pile of notes and feeling more than a little overwhelmed. What next? It’s time to form a plan.
Luckily, not every problem is a novel wrecker. Some are more important than others, and solving those bigger problems will make better use of your time. After all, fixing three major problems will strengthen a story more than if you fix 20 small ones.
Ultimately, the first problems you should prioritise are those which require the largest revisions:
No plot
Perhaps you’ve focused so much on worldbuilding that nothing actually happens. Or what does happen isn’t strong enough to drive a whole novel.
Wrong main character
A side character turns out to have the more intriguing story with more at stake? Changing the main character for any reason will require a huge revision.
Wrong point of view
If, in a first-person POV, too much of the narrative is stuck inside the main character’s head, changing to third person may be the answer. If you have an epic, sprawling fantasy novel with many characters, you may consider using omniscient POV (although this is tough to pull off and not always the best choice for a newer author).
Timeline needs changing
If you find yourself using flashbacks too often to relate important story events, or those flashback scenes seem more interesting, setting the story during those times may be the way to go.
Lack of conflict
Closely related to a lack of plot, having little to no conflict is a big problem – your heroes shouldn’t reach their goals or solve their problems with no obstacles or setbacks.
If you find your novel suffers from any of these, stick them right at the top of your to-do list.
Other issues that aren’t as pressing and can wait are those that involve fine-tuning rather than overhauling:
- pacing is slow
- characters are underdeveloped
- not all senses are used to convey setting
- there is too much ‘telling’
- a subplot needs tying into the main plot more
- some action sequences are confusing
- there is too much info dumping
These are all problems that need to be fixed, but not until the ones above are sorted. And all of these should be sorted before moving on to any sentence-level editing for grammar, flow, and word choice.
I know it’s tempting to fix everything that glares out at you, but prioritising your edits and placing them in a hierarchy makes it much more manageable.
Fixing three major problems will strengthen a story more than if you fix 20 small ones.
Final thoughts...
Editing should be fun, a process of discovery. Not something to loathe. A sculptor’s first ‘draft’ is a lump of clay or wax that just about resembles the desired shape. So too is your first draft of your book, and during self-editing is when the story really begins to find its form.
It’s almost an art form itself, so it’s best to not rush in unprepared. And taking a break, getting into the right mindset, reflecting on your vision, and creating a plan helps you tackle a self-edit with direction.
