Young Writers Society

So I finished my book in June 2011, started in December 2010 - didn't take long at all. Googled editing and most websites said to wait at least 6 months to edit it and it looks like those 6 months are over - now I need to begin editing it. I spend the last week reading it and there's A LOT of grammar mistakes, one or two plot holes, sentences don't make sense and so on. So how do I go on to edit this? I put all the chapters into their own Word Document and placed them into a folder called 'Editing version' and that's where they've been for the past month - I really don't know how to get started.

Thoughts?

I also have started four other books - YES FOUR. I am mad.

Start big and work your way down.

You'll notice all the grammar errors, weird phrasing, bad lines of dialogue, first. But don't work on polishing them. Go for the plot holes, the out of character moments, pacing... everything that is the fabric of the story first. Usually starting with plot and character.

The reason I say this is so your energy doesn't go to waste. You could spend forever polishing your grammar and sentences, but if the plot doesn't make sense, what's the point? Make sure the roots are healthy before you go pruning the tree.