A Book in Progress – Editing Journal for "Visions"

Over the next 6 months, I’m going to walk through the process of editing a book—start to finish. I’m in early edits on Visions (Cainsville 2) and I’ll be using it as my example. When I teach writing, I’m often asked what exactly happens during edits—both the process and, more specifically, “what kinds of things do publishers want changed?” This post will give me something I can refer students to for a much more answer than they ever actually wanted :)

I’ll be adding to this post as I go. Note that this will be what I consider “spoiler-free” for both Omens & Visions, but I will be referring to characters and very broad-strokes plot points from both.

The Editorial Team

Yep, I have a team, namely because I have 3 English language publishers (Canada, US & UK) I’ve been with my Canadian editor (Anne Collins) and UK editor (Antonia Hodgson) since Bitten. My US editor (Jessica Renheim) came on board with Omens. Over the years we’ve developed a process. Anne takes the lead. My US editor (now Jess) sends her comments to be incorporated into Anne’s notes. Antonia waits for the second draft so she can see that version with fresh eyes.

I also have an agent who’s a former editor, critique partners, a writing group, beta readers and a daughter who reads and critiques. Whether I use those additional editing resources depends on the project, as you’ll see.

The Editorial Process

The process for edits varies by genre and publishing house. While I’ve changed US publishers a couple of times, the process has remained the same, and it’s the same for my YA and MG books (which are at different US houses) So this is relatively standard, though not absolutely so.

After I deliver the manuscript, I get an editorial letter roughly 10 pages long. The first couple of pages are the overall editorial analysis. “This works, this also works, this doesn’t, and, oh Kelley, you really need to work on this part.” The remaining pages are specific comments by page number. You’ll see that in action later.

I edit. I resubmit. They reread. I get another letter. This time, it’s mostly those page-specific comments. I also get line edits at this stage.

I edit. I resubmit. If it’s early in the series, I may get another quick clean-up round. Early books in a series require more tweaking as I work into a new world with new characters.

Once the editors sign off, the manuscript goes to copyedits. Then to proofs. Again, you’ll get more on those stages when we reach them in this walk-through (likely in the new year)

The Final Say

There’s a lot of confusion about editing, particularly among new writers. I’m often asked what changes that I was forced to make by my publishers. The answer is “it’s never happened.” That’s not how it works. My editors suggest changes they think will improve the book. It’s up to me to apply the ones that work for my story. My name goes on the cover, so the final say is mine, as it is for most authors.

Okay…onto the Visions editing walk-through…

First Draft Edits

Time to write first draft: 3.5 months

I finished the first draft of Visions in October 2012. Then I put it away pending edits. I need a couple of months to get some distance from it. In this particular instance, it stayed tucked away longer than usual because I got busy doing other things. Not a problem, though—it wasn’t due until July 2013 and I had it delivered by March.

There are two main tasks for me with a first draft. 

First, cut, cut and cut some more. The first draft weighed in at 171,000 words. Yikes! That’s my longest book ever, but I do write long, giving me lots of freedom to cut unnecessary scenes and even subplots without fear of releasing a too-short book. The draft I delivered was 140,000 words, which is much better. At that point, I expect to both add scenes and tighten overall, so I’m on track for a 120,000-130,000 word novel (Omens was 125,000)

Second, housekeeping. I’m a fast drafter, which means I barrel through, not stopping for anything, especially editing, because once I start editing, I’ll get trapped there and never finish the damn book. So if I make changes mid-draft, I don’t retrace my steps to fix the earlier bits. I jot notes and then fix it in edits. For example:

Early in Visions, I decided to have Pamela agree to hire Gabriel back, on the condition he breaks off all contact with Olivia. He agree. He’s lying (shocking!) I intended for this to add conflict, but as the draft progressed, it only seemed to add complication. So partway through, that agreement vanishes, and Pamela is fine with (well, grudgingly accepting of) their working partnership. In edits, then, I needed to remove all early references to that agreement.

Lots of that happens as a draft progresses. I realize things I thought would work don’t, and the thread must be tugged out. Or I decide to add a new thread and need to weave it into the early part of the book.

At this point, I made a list of potential issues to discuss with my editors and officially submitted it. You’ll notice I didn’t use my agent or critique partners before delivering. Sometimes I do, but in this case, I felt the first draft was solid enough to deliver, and decided to save those other resources to look at later drafts.

Time to edit first draft edit: 1 month.

First Round Editorial Edits

I delivered in March, as I said. I was due to get edits in June, but got bumped by Chris Hadfield (Anne was working on his book, with a fast-turnaround—it’s out this fall—and I was, as usual, ahead of schedule) Damn astronauts :) So I got my editorial letter in late August, as I was on tour, and I’m starting now (early September) Stay tuned, and you’ll see everything I did wrong in draft 1 and how I (hopefully) fixed it.