I get a lot of question about editing, so I thought I’d write a post on how to edit your book – top tips!
When I was writing my first book, I didn’t really consider the editing process at all. I thought you wrote your book, went through to check grammar and spellings and then you were about there. Wrong!!!
I am now in the middle of writing my seventh book and the key lesson I have learnt is…
Doing edits takes up more time than writing the first draft!
I have also learnt that editing has to be done in stages. There’s no getting away from this fact, however unpalatable it may seem. You really do have to read your manuscript several times if you want a professional book.
Each edit focuses on a different aspect of writing. Yes, we think we can multi-task, but our brains can only do a limited number of things at any one time. So it is better to do each edit with a different focus and do it well, than try to do everything all in one go.
I would say that, on average, I read through my manuscript 8 times before it is ready for publication. And each time I go through it, I find new things to correct, so it’s definitely necessary!
My tip: Manage your expectations, know that it takes time and crack on. Peel that onion of a book one layer at a time!
The structural edit
The first edit is called the structural edit. Its purpose is to make sure the building blocks of your story are solid.
These building blocks are: Place, People, Plot and Pace (The 4 P’s)
Let’s look at each of these…
Place
Is your setting appropriate for your story? With the benefits of Google Earth, you are at liberty to set your story anywhere, so make sure you choose a setting that enhances your storyline and is easy for your audience to envisage and relate to.
People
I would say this is the area that needs the most attention. It’s people we read about, isn’t it? So you need to populate your story with people readers will care about and empathise with. Characters with real personalities and flaws.
Ask yourself – Are your characters relatable? Do you need to make them more/less sympathetic for the story to work better?
Plot
This is the point at which you have to be brutally honest with yourself. Is the plot working? The worst criticism from readers is that your plot is boring and predictable – we want surprises, don’t we? The thing is, even if you spot problems, there’s always a solution. It might take a few days to work it out, but persistence is the key. Listen to your gut instincts and if you feel it’s not quite right, be prepared to spend some time working out what needs to change.
Pace
Is everything happening at the right speed? Are the reveals and the twists in the right place? Does your story sag in the middle and get a bit boring? This is the time to think about rejigging chapters, even – dare I say it – cutting some out altogether!
As a rule of thumb, you need something to happen at the start, at 25%, a mid-point belter, then everything gets as bad as it can possibly be at 75%. After that you’re hurtling along to the ending and hopefully a final twist along with a tying up of loose ends,.
My tip: Read through as a reader rather than a writer. Just read. Don’t amend as you go along, but keep a notepad and write yourself a list of things which need changing.
Even better if you have people who will read through for you at this stage (beta readers) and give you honest feedback
Line edits come next
Once you have all your structural issues sorted the next stage is to dive into more of the detail.
In this stage, I focus on descriptions, actions and emotional punch.
Descriptions
I write a quick first draft and often descriptions get missed, so this is the stage where I fill in the blanks.
It’s important to see your story from the eyes of the reader – have you done enough to help them see what you are visualising in your mind? Have you told them what the house/office/airport looks like, can they feel what your characters are feeling? It’s surprising how much you can miss. In One Mistake, I wrote a whole section of the book in a country house hotel and realised, on editing, I hadn’t written any descriptions of the place!
Don’t forget you have five senses and your characters need to be using the full range to make the scenes realistic and compelling.
Actions
It is actions that bring your book to life, so characters are always on the go. If they’re not, you need to make them do something. If they are doing something, check that it’s realistic and consistent at that point in your story. I also use actions to break up long blocks of dialogue.
I always have in my mind that body language can say just as much as words, especially mixed in with dialogue.
The other thing to check is that characters aren’t suddenly standing when a minute ago they were sitting. Drinking tea when they just made a cup of coffee. Doing things which are physically impossible!
Details, so many details…!
Emotional punch
This is probably the trickiest part of writing, but it’s essential if you want your readers to get lost in your story.
I use a handbook to help get a bit of variety in my character’s reactions – The Emotional Thesaurus – A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression.
This is also the point at which you need to ask yourself if you’re telling the reader too much and it would be more powerful if you showed what was happening by adding a scene and letting your characters act it out.
My tip: Read through twice – once making your changes, then again on a kindle or different reading device and I can guarantee you’ll spot lots of things you missed first time round.
The next stage is copyedits
This is where you go through the real nitty gritty details and it is the most laborious, but necessary, part of the process. Do your characters have the same hair/eye colour throughout? Have their names magically changed? Do they live in the same place? Does the timeline make sense?
Along with looking for consistency, you also need to check for repetition. For example, in my latest book, The Ex Boyfriend, I had written ‘a bit’ over one hundred times!!! Every book I write, I seem to develop a new verbal tick and this is the time to sort them out. Thank goodness for the Thesaurus!
My tip: Create a page where you note down your characters’ full names, ages, hair colour, eye colour. Dates, location and key points in your time-line as a reference document to check back with as you go through your edit.
Professional copyeditors are worth their weight in gold. Seriously.
Proofread
Nearly there! By this point, all the major problems should have been sorted out and it’s just a matter of spelling and grammar. However, these things are easy to miss, even if you are good at the details.
Again, I read through on the kindle as well the computer screen to make sure I’ve picked up everything.
My tip: Get somebody else to help you. If you can afford a professional, it will be money well spent. If you can’t… recruit a trusted reader friend who is pedantic about spelling and punctuation!
Recommended Reading
This post has only scratched the surface of the work that needs to go into editing, my aim being to clarify the process and what happens at each stage. There are no short-cuts!
If you would like more in-depth support with editing, there are loads of books out there, but my favourite is: Self-Editing for Fiction Writers – How to edit yourself into print. There are also lots of freelance editors and proofreaders, if your finances will allow.
I hope this post on how to edit your book – top tips – has been useful – it’s part of a series of writing tips I’ll be bringing to you over the coming months – follow my page, or sign up to my newsletter, if you’d like the latest up-dates.
