Editing Tips: The Fix List

When it comes to writing, they say the real work is in the rewriting.

While it may take several drafts and years of your life to get to the point of having an entire book written, the work is not over after you type “The end.”

You then need to dig back into that manuscript, preferably after you’ve had an alpha or beta reader look at it, and square everything up.

This is likely the point where you’ll get so overwhelmed that giving up will be the more appealing option. After all, you’ve already put everything into the book. What more is there to do?

Well, depending on what your alpha/beta readers said, it could be a lot of issues or it could just be some minor tweaks.

I’ve had both kinds of feedback. The type that requires a whole book rewrite, and the type that is minor enough that it can be knocked out within a week. In either case, I’ve found the best way to tackle such edits is with a Fix List!

Editing Tips: The Fix List

While your Fix List and my Fix List will vary in terms of what will be required based on the uniqueness of your MS, the idea of this list is to put down in a tangible form the changes needed for the next draft of your book.

This should help you sort your editing into smaller steps, give you a non-overwhelming task list to tackle, and straighten out the story elements in your head.

I find going old-school the easiest way, with a pen, paper, and highlighters, but you can also do this digitally if you prefer.

On a piece of paper, write…

Fix List

Problem #1

Solution

Problem #2

Solution

And so on.

To give you an idea, my most recent Fix List was based on alpha feedback for my current work in progress.

It’s the last book in my YA series, Blackbirch, and my alpha was reading a draft where not every detail was worked out yet. In fact, I literally added in a new plot twist the day I sent the MS to them. That meant there was a new story thread that hadn’t been completely ironed out in my head, or backed up in early chapters of the book.

Naturally, when I got the feedback, that new twist had come across as confusing and convenient. Other feedback included aspects of the magickal system being unclear, the villain’s plans not coming across, and confusion regarding items the characters were using to try to defeat said villain.

That’s not great feedback to get, but the good news? It was fixable! Most of the issues came down to not having the right information on the page (it was worked out in my head, of course, but that doesn’t help the reader) or the info being clear to me as the writer, but not clear to anyone else.

That’s the stuff you want your alpha/beta readers pointing out. That’s what went on my Fix List, and here is a real-life example.

Fix List

Problem #1: The amulet. Alpha didn’t remember it from previous books and found current reminders about it unhelpful in jogging their memory. The significance of it in this book is unclear to them.

Solution: Search “amulet” and check the text for reminders about what it is, and how it works. Look at how it’s being used/written/talked about in the current WIP and ensure it’s clear on the page what the amulet is, how it’s been used in the past, and what it will do in this story.

I cannot overstate enough how helpful writing down a story problem is after having a think about it when someone else has pointed it out to you. It definitely allows you to see the issue from another perspective and where you may have confused your reader.

After you’ve written about the issue and explained what it is in your own words, attempt a solution too. It doesn’t have to be complete if you don’t have an idea yet. Sometimes it’s not until you’re back in your edits that the answer comes to you.

When you have all of your problems and solutions written down, start at #1, and edit your manuscript. Once you’ve addressed problem #1, mark it off with your highlighter, and continue until the Fix List is complete.

It may take only one Fix List to address the issues raised, or it may take an additional list that includes any fresh problems or ripples the first Fix List caused.

In either case, using a Fix List will highlight your problems so you know what to address, give you a clear plan of attack to follow, and gets you closer to a completed MS that should not only make sense to you but to readers as well.

— K.M. Allan

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