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Sat Apr 18, 2015 3:59 pm
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Dragongirl says...



Last month I word vomited up the ending of a novel. It is the first book I have ever finished and now that my dry heaving has pretty much stopped I am ready to take on the daunting task of editing it.

I am curious as to how other people do their editing? I can see a lot of things I have to change in my story and the climax will totally have to be rewritten but frankly I am overwhelmed. Does anyone have any tips or tricks on how to get the first edit done?

Please anyone and everyone, I need help!
"Every writer I know has trouble writing." - Joseph Heller

~ A word to the wise ain't necessary, it's the stupid ones who need advice.~
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Sat Apr 18, 2015 4:27 pm
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Rosendorn says...



Congrats on finishing a draft! Go out and celebrate! Finishing is a very important part of writing.

First off, let it sit awhile. If you've written up the draft in a short time, then the story is still very much in your head. You're not going to be able to look at the story objectively right after you've finished it. Write something else in the meantime. If you're scared about forgetting the edits you want to make, write them somewhere else and set both documents aside. Even if you've written the draft over a long time, then spending some time away from it still helps because you're not in that huge rush of finishing anymore.

Once you've let the draft sit for long enough you really can look at it and get a good sense of what the quality's actually like (meaning you feel something other than "this sucks it's the worst thing ever" or "this is brilliant I'm madly in love with it"), then you start macro editing. By "macro" I mean tackle the big issues first: plot, character, believability, and pacing.

Read the story and take note of where the plot no longer works, the characters feel all wrong for how you'd established them, if the events are believable, and if you've got any parts that go too fast/slow. See if the stakes are high enough and you can really get a chance to feel something for the characters.

Those are all really big things that will cause the most amount of rewriting. You could end up rewriting the whole thing (which is what I did after I finished my first draft, to the point the only thing the same is the driving conflict and some of the characters) or you could keep some parts and just edit what you need to edit. In my experience, the second draft tends to be a rewrite of the first. But it's not the only way to do it!

You'll probably repeat that process quite a few times, as you whittle down issues. The rewrite could have new plot holes but the quality is probably better, and for the third draft, you'll probably have less than you did in the first. It can take quite a few drafts to really have something you can stop macro editing, so don't worry if it takes you awhile!

Once you've basically figured out the plot and you feel the macro issues are solid, you start going to messo editing, where you look at things scene by scene or chapter by chapter. Figure out what's important, what's not, how everything contributes to the overall plot arc. This is still fairly intensive but it's not as intensive as macro editing. You've got the foundation down so now you're making sure every beam is in place.

And finally you go down to the micro editing. This is where you polish up any sentences, paragraphs, descriptions, and generally pay attention to the very small parts of writing that (usually) don't impact the plot in any major way.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  





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Sat Apr 18, 2015 4:44 pm
Dragongirl says...



Thanks for the awesome reply, I think rewrite is where I am headed. :? Gulp. Still it is awesome to have an actual finished rough draft to rewrite!
"Every writer I know has trouble writing." - Joseph Heller

~ A word to the wise ain't necessary, it's the stupid ones who need advice.~
- Bill Cosby
  





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Sat Apr 18, 2015 8:47 pm
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Rosendorn says...



Yes! Honestly your rewrites end up so much better if you have the full draft done. You can rewrite an unfinished draft as much as you want, but you'll never truly get a good, solid rewrite. Finishing a draft means you can take a whole story into account when editing, which is so important to get value out of your editing.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  





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Mon Apr 27, 2015 12:43 am
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Carlito says...



Once I do my first big edit (the 2nd draft/rewrite), I let it sit for a week or two, read it over and fix stupid grammatical errors and typos, and then let a couple of trusted friends read it. I try to go for at least one that I think will genuinely enjoy it for the nice "this was awesome!!" comments when they finish (and if they don't like it I know I have a major problem), and then at least one that will give me really constructive feedback. Then I let it sit again (we're talking months), rinse and repeat (in a similar fashion that Rosey described) until I'm head-over-heels in love.

A couple of specific techniques that I've found really helpful through the years:

-Read through the novel and after every chapter write down what the major plot point was in one sentence. If you can't do it in one sentence, there's probably too much going on. If you can't figure out what the major plot point is, that's a weak scene. When you're done, you'll have a mini-outline of your whole book. I've found this helpful for not only remembering what happens in each scene, but also figuring out where weak places are.

-Edit out of order. I did this with the most recent novel I've been working on. There are 52 chapters, so I put 52 numbers in a bowl and drew them out randomly and edited scenes in that order. I would read each scene out loud (because you pick up on different things this way) and write out what the MC's goal was in that scene, what the obstacle was in that scene, what the MC does to move the plot forward in that scene, and how the MC develops in that scene. If any of those things weren't present, then I knew I had a problem. I thought it was helpful to do things out of order because it really isolated scenes, and I felt I was able to read them more objectively.

-Find a critique partner. I have a couple of friends that are/were English majors and will happily shred novels. I also have a lot of friends that love to read the genre I write for fun and will happily tell me it's the best thing they've ever read. I think both are important. If you don't know anyone that will give you constructive feedback, consult the internet and find a critique partner. I think sometimes it's easier to work with someone you don't know personally because they'll give you better feedback and not be so worried about hurting your feelings.

The biggest thing I've learned through the years editing lots of novel projects is not to rush things. It's not a race. I'm very goal oriented, so I like to tell myself "I want to have this ready for friend feedback within x months", but when I care more about my self-imposed deadlines rather than the work I'm doing, obviously the product suffers. So take your time, do it in steps, and don't be afraid to take breaks (even really long breaks).

Also, remember that draft 2 doesn't have to be perfect. Draft 3 doesn't even have to be perfect. I always strive to make the next draft better than the draft before it. Even if you only end up fixing one character arc or one plot issue, it's still an improvement. There's no limit to how many drafts you can write :)

Best of luck!! :)
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Mon Apr 27, 2015 1:01 am
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Dragongirl says...



Totally helpful tips! I am chipping away at my story and your ideas about plot point in one sentence was awesome. I am so going to do that!
"Every writer I know has trouble writing." - Joseph Heller

~ A word to the wise ain't necessary, it's the stupid ones who need advice.~
- Bill Cosby
  








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