Editing a Novel

Everyone edits differently just as everyone writes differently. Something that might work for one writer, that same tactic might not work for another writer. But I thought today might be a good time to blog about how I edit my works. I am currently in the process of editing my old completed manuscript, and I recently completed another rough draft of a full novel, and this too will need plenty of editing. So since I'm spending much of my summer writing time editing rather than writing, I thought this would be a good time to blog about just exactly how I go about editing my work.

It should be noted that while I am writing specifically about how I edit a whole novel, the process for me is very similar to how I would edit a much shorter work such as a short story.

In order to edit, you first, obviously, have to write a rough draft. My rough drafts are often pretty rough. I just try to get the story down. It often lacks detail, and even some character introspection. In other words the rough draft is usually pretty skeletal. It contains mainly each scene's action and dialogue.

When I edit, I go back through and add all the other details. This often includes scene descriptions, some character thoughts and reactions, and some historical context, such as character backstories, and prior plot events. This does make the editing process quite involved and time consuming, but I just need to get that basic story down first.

Whether this method will work for you, the reader, is up to you. The most important thing is to have some sort of a routine that meets your writing needs. Building habits of good writing techniques as well as editing will lead to better finished works.