Editing your novel is a pain, if you do it right. It just is. If you want to take your novel that next step to being a great book, there’s no real option but to pour your blood, sweat and tears into the editing process. It’s unlikely you can get away with much less.
Case in point: me. It took me six weeks from typing the first word to typing the last word of the first draft of my first novel. I finished it at the end of January. That means the editing process has now taken me almost three months, and the end is not especially near. My ballpark estimate is that it’ll be published sometime in July, but that’s a guess. It could be a bit later or sooner.
That is to say, it’s been three months, and it could easily be three more. Or even a bit more than that. The editing process could take me 5-6 times as long as the writing process did … and that’s not even unusual or a particularly long time for editing. Some people tinker with the damn thing for years.
So, let’s say you’ve gotten your draft back from your editor. It’s covered in red ink or comments on Track Changes. Maybe you also have a document with a summary of the editor’s thoughts. The edits number in the hundreds. It can seem overwhelming. How do you tackle all of this work? Here are four steps you can take to break it into pieces, and use it as a road map to go from a good story to a great book:
- Breathe, and read
That’s right. Your first step should be to just look at everything. Don’t touch the story; just read every single word your editor sent. You want to know what amount of work is ahead of you, and get a feel for what your editor said. Don’t start trying to make changes until you’ve reviewed every edit and comment first. Know the lay of the land before you dive in. - Sort the edits
It’s important that you sort the edits into categories so you have an idea of which ones are daunting, and which ones can be tackled with ease. Label each one as “Easy,” “Substantial” or “Extensive.” It can be helpful to print out a clean draft of the novel, then label each edit with a different colored flag so you know which is which. Then write all that out on paper, so you can reference each edit and what type it is. - Cycle through the edits
With the edits labeled, as you cycle through them, you can tackle the easiest ones first, and work your way toward the hardest. That’ll help you feel as if you’re making progress, and set the story up well to have major changes made to it. It will require you run through the story three separate times (first for “Easy,” then “Substantial,” then “Extensive”), but it will be worth it. You can also cross them out on the paper as you deal with each edit, or circle the ones you want to come back to, and make notes to yourself on the page. - Proofread it
Once all the edits are completed and you have a final manuscript done, that doesn’t mean you’re done. That’s when the proofreading can begin. There’s not a lot of sense in doing that before you have a final draft of your manuscript, as so much might change that it can be a waste of time. Now is the time to get all your spelling and grammar set, as the final polish before you send your story out into the world.
And that’s it — Not to suggest it’s simple or anything, though. It’s fairly likely your changes will be substantial after the developmental edit, and it’ll take you weeks (maybe a month or two) to do it justice. But once all that’s done, you should have a great book that everyone will want to buy. Well, you can hope so, anyway. I’ll just assume your book is awesome. It is, right? Yeah? Great. You just keep being you.
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