S. M. Boyce’s Critique and Editing process—Part II: Editing and Revisions

Welcome back to round two of how I write and edit. To start at the beginning, click here .

This is part of my Indie How-To Index , which is a complete guide on everything from writing to marketing your novel. I designed the Indie Index to help authors on the road to being published. It’s totally free, so all I ask is that you have fun, learn something, and add to the discussion.

 
Critique

So this is where your framework baby gets torn to shreds. Just kidding—sort of. This is the first time someone else sees your novel. Choose a critiquer or three who are in your target audience.

I have three critiquers—my husband, who is a reader with an amazing attention to detail; a close friend, who is also an avid reader; and a trustworthy writer friend. This diverse pool is wide enough to give me a good look at what needs fixing while still keeping the circle of people who see this terrible draft relatively small.

Seriously. It hurts me to show the first draft to anyone. Even after the depth editing.

Give your critiquer the time they need to do a good job. The average for a 100,000 word novel is about three weeks. Some people need more, some less. Whatever they need, respect it. You want them to do a good job and not rush, right? If someone says they need two months or something, just wait for them to finish or find someone else. But don’t rush your critiquers.

As I mentioned before, one of my critiquers (hubby dearest) helped me with the outline and knows the plot. Therefore, it’s only natural if he’ll misses some things because he knows what’s supposed to happen. That’s why there are multiple layers editing and multiple critiquers.

Your critiquers need to look at the core setup: does the plot work? Are the characters strong and well-articulated? Does he know what’s going on? That’s what a critique focuses on: the bones and primary structure of the story.

 

Helpful tip: make sure you tell your critiquers if you want them to look for something specific when they read. Writing out a bulleted list will make things easiest for them, which translates into their best critique possible for you.

 

 

Critique Fixes

Once you get the critiquers’ comments back, you have to revise.

You may have to change major components of the story. You may even have to rewrite some parts. It’s important you know this so that it doesn’t come as a surprise.

Essentially, you’re starting at the beginning—fix the big things first, like plot changes and chapter rewrites. Then, fix inconsistencies and plot holes. Polish the dialogue. After you’ve done that, you can tweak the style by polishing the descriptions and cleaning up grammar errors. Once it’s as close to perfect as you think you can get, you’re ready for the next stage.

Let’s go back to the building-a-house metaphor: if your foundation is cracked or crooked, you need to fix it. Otherwise, the house will lean a little and look weird no matter how many windows you install. Yeah, it’s more work, but it’ll look amazing when you finish. After you fix that, you take off the plastic on the windows and put up the wallpaper in the hallways and bedrooms. Paint the dining room red and lay tile in the kitchen. Put the hardwood down in the living room…you get the idea. You’re giving the house its style and appeal.

Sometimes, you’ll rewrite your rewrites—you realize the dining room should be beige, not red. Oops. Once you change that, head into the bedrooms and start laying out where you want to put the furniture.

…is this metaphor old yet? Too bad. I’m not stopping.

 

Copyedit

Okay. You’ve gone through the whole fix/tweak/polish routine. You’re surely done, right?

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No, you’re not. Sending your book off to a copyeditor is your next chance to find and fix errors that could mean the difference between a good book and an awesome one. You’re too close to the book at this point to see its subtler flaws.

It’s amazing how people cling to the details in a story or remember one line above the rest. This is where you add relatable details that seem small until people look back on the book and smile because they can’t shake it from their thoughts.

This is where I recommend you hire a professional editor. Find someone who writes or edits in your genre and can respect your voice—if you find an editor who is constantly rewording your sentences every paragraph or so, they are not respecting your voice and you should not use them again. Everyone writes differently, and an editor who rewords constantly is essentially re-writing your book in his or her style.

Don’t get me wrong—sometimes editors’ rewrites are necessary for accuracy or clarity. Sometimes, the rewrite just sounds better and you’re cool with it. But incessantly? No, that’s them changing your book.

Anyway, find a copyeditor. I’m lucky to have Rebecca Hamilton as my copyeditor because she’s amazing at nitpicking details. She has a great eye for syntax and a wonderful ability to tweak. Check out my article series on finding the right editor for where to start finding your editor. Make sure you save up, too—editing is crucial, but not cheap. If you can do a copyedit swap with another talented author, you should. Just make sure you’re giving them your best when you edit their book in return.

The copyeditor will come back with fewer conceptual changes than the critiquer. They’ll return comments about motivation, character development and believability, small inconsistencies, minor plot holes…that kind of thing.

It’s a crucial step you cannot skip. Do. Not. Skip. This. Step.

…Please.

I’m so adamant about this because the sooner indies are publishing thoughtful, well-edited novels, the sooner the stigma of “self-published crap the traditional publishers didn’t want” will disappear. Well, I never once submitted to an agent because, from my research, going indie was the best business move for me as a new author. The indie revolution is the first time authors can really make a living selling their work—let’s not waste this breathtaking opportuntiy by publishing crap.

 

Copyedit Fixes

Sigh. We’re here again. Revising. Don’t you love editing?

So about three to four weeks have passed since you handed off your book to your editor. The copyeditor sent you back suggestions. As with the critiquers, you don’t have to take all of their suggestions…but they are the professional. So long as they back up their comments with sound reasoning, you should at a minimum consider each change.

Here’s how I approach the edit:

Go through the draft by just reading their comments first. Take notes but don’t change anything.
Go through the document again, accepting or rejecting their inline changes and suggestions.
Start through the manuscript again, taking into account their notes.

At this point, you shouldn’t have to do anymore structural changes. It’ll all be small stuff unless the copy editor mentions something drastic. Yay! This is where you focus on the tweaks. Go through and make sure that all your apples are lined up in a row…or whatever. You know what I mean.

 

Take a Break

I’m serious. You’ll burn out if you don’t. Don’t rush this.

Make sure to pace yourself through this process and take a break when you need to. I know you want to get that book out there, but you want to get a quality book out there. If you’re rushing through the edits and just sick to death of the book, it won’t be as good as it could have been if you were pacing yourself as you went along.

 
Table of Contents

Writing Draft One
Editing and Revisions
Preparing for the Release