Naps, Hooks, and Cookies: How to Tackle the Editing Process

Whether you wrote a collection of short stories this May to celebrate Short Story Month, or whether you finished a draft of a novel during our last Camp NaNoWriMo session, editing is the next step of the writing process. Today, NaNoWriMo novelist E. L. Johnson offers some advice on how to fall in love with the editing process… or at least, how to learn to live with it:

Hello Writers!

So, you’ve written a novel. You’ve gotten to know your characters, you’ve created story lines and navigated your way around plot holes to come out the other side. Now it’s time to edit.

Here are my tips on how to tackle the editing process:

1. Take a Break.

Take the month off, seriously. You’ve spent time getting close to your story, now you need to step away from it. Do the dishes, reorganize your closet, spend time with your friends, and binge watch a TV show. In short, do anything and everything but spend time looking at your novel.

Once you’ve taken a break and hopefully a well-deserved nap, it’s time for…

2. The Big Picture

Make an outline of your story, scene by scene. If outlines don’t help, try writing out the synopsis (people hate doing it, but it will be helpful in the long run).

Here you should figure out what doesn’t work. Go over the big overarching plot. Refer to your outlines or synopsis and restructure your scenes so they make sense.

3. Characters

Do you have too many characters? Or three characters named Sarah? Are they essential to the plot or can you cut out or merge two? Too many characters can confuse the reader.

Consider your characters’ voices. Do they all talk the same? Are they very polite and sound like they’re from the 19th century when they should be talking about spaceships or the Watergate scandal? Give your characters unique voices.

4. Build the Tension, Keep the Pace

Think about tension and pacing. Does your first chapter end with a cliffhanger? Make sure your chapters flow and connect well to each other. Do you need long descriptions if it’s a car chase? If you’ve got a dramatic scene then shorter, choppier language can build the tension.

5. The Nitty Gritty

By this time your writing is solid. The story flows, the characters aren’t all named Sarah, and you can spend some time on the nitty gritty details.

I’m talking line by line analysis—where you read every single line and check that it works. Fix the language you use. Check for typos and grammar mistakes.

Look for certain words you use again and again. Do a search for passive words like ‘was’, and ‘were’; thinking words like ‘wondered, thought, pondered,’ and empty modifiers like ‘really’, ‘very’, ‘extremely’.

Show, don’t tell. You’ll hear this time and again. Take a close look at your writing. Show me the depth of your main character’s despair, don’t just tell me ‘he was sad’.

6. Reading Time!

Print it out and read the story. Use that red pen!

Fix the story and give it to a friend to read, or your publisher, editor or agent. Take any criticisms of the story on board, but above all, remember that you are the author and this is your work. You don’t have to agree with everyone.

Once you’re ready, take a few days off and read it again, out loud.

Bring it to your local writers’ circle and read a few pages, get others’ input. Share your story with a few trusted folks in return for a coffee or cookies. People will do a lot for cookies, especially homemade ones.

And when you can’t stand to look at it anymore, you’re done. It’s time to put it out there in the world.

Remember, you’re a writer. You’ve got this!

E.L. Johnson is a novelist with too many history degrees. Fleeing the colonies to study medieval history, she arrived in England and discovered a love of crumpets and cream teas. Now working in London, she writes during her commute and gets paid to tweet, when she’s not singing on stage or running a book club. Johnson’s first historical fantasy novel, Wolf’s Blood, began as a NaNoWriMo project. Published by Azure Spider Publications, it is available now on Amazon. Read her book or follow her on Twitter.

Top photo by andrea di on Unsplash.