Ways, tips, and tricks to tackle editing???

All Things Writing
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I am going to be brutally honest, I don’t know how to edit a novel because I never got the chance to edit a novel. I never edited The House of Naivin, as I gave up on the story and focused on other things.

It’s not really a matter of me not knowing what to do, but rather how to go about doing it. Mind you I NEVER gave Project Succession an outline. I HATE making outlines and I ALWAYS just go for it. I am a die-hard panster and I just write to see where the story takes me and keep it going if I can. Outlining bothers me because I either plot too much or get bored of the story and wanna do something else. Yet I do have a general idea of how I want the plot to go from my thoughts alone, but nothing is set in stone or put on paper.

So, I finished my first novel and that I truly enjoyed and wanted to give editing a try, but I don’t even know how I should tackle it.

I do know that Chapter 1, Part 1 needs to go and a few chapters that serve no purpose to where I am going with the story. I think I may need to tackle those chapters BEFORE getting into the chapters that aren’t too messy. Those chapters/parts that I need to scrap are the main focus, but everything can come after when I make a better sense of the chapters/parts that I need to get rid of, immediately.

I understand that much. I know the grammar and all that jazz comes too. I think getting heavily back into reading should help because I don’t read enough, I am talking about novels.

So, do you have any tips, tricks, ways, advice for editing a first draft in steps? I know what I need to tackle first and of course I need to reread the story, but something to do while I am rereading the draft.

Does that make sense or not so much?

Thoughts and feelings?

NOTE: I get the whole “what works for me, may not work for you” deal and I appreciate you saying that. Yet I am willing to branch out and try different methods as a planster. I would’ve said panster, but the only method is just go with the flow and not much direction.

PLEASE HELP A FELLOW WRITER AND SISTA OUT, PRETTY PLEASE!!!

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Got ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to add here?!

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Oooh, tough one, because I always edit as I write the draft. So when I finish the draft it’s simply a matter of rereading and looking for errors of any kind–structural, grammar, plot holes, filter words, etc. I just look for every kind of possible error all at the same time. Other writers say you should look for just one problem at a time, but I’ve never done that.

Someone once told me that if you simply reread the book from the beginning you won’t see certain errors, so it’s better to read the chapters out of order or even read the whole thing backwards instead of forwards. Maybe that will help…?

On another note, I’m still wondering what you mean by “parts” in this context. Do you mean scene breaks?

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Professional editor here :raising_hand_woman: :joy:

Editing your own works is extremely difficult. You will miss a lot more errors than if you have someone else to do it for you because your brain is automatically filling in what it thinks you’ve written, not what you’ve actually written. This is why there are so many errors in my first novel :joy:

My advice? Get the structure out of the way first. Chapter and part order, plot lines and holes. If you need to move stuff around, move stuff around. If you don’t need to change the order, then don’t change the order. Take stuff out, add it in. Do whatever you need to for the big structure.

After you’ve sorted those things out, then worry about the little things: typos, grammar, sentence structure, paragraph structure, dialogue, etc. If you come across these things while working on the big structure things, fix 'em up. You will find more than you’re expecting either way.

Absolutely make sure a few months (at least) have passed before tackling editing. If you do it right after writing, you will miss a lot because of the brain misreading thing.

I honestly do these things at the same time but then go back and do a major edit for the little things, and always leave it a few months before beginning editing. 'Cause trust me, the brain doesn’t like cooperating when you’re editing your own works :joy:

Oh. And don’t rely on things like Grammarly or autocorrect. They miss a lot more than people realise

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I work backwards.

Remember this and remember this well, the chapters of the story is called part, yet the parts are called chapters.

For example:

Chapter 1, Part 1 is actually Part 1, Chapter 1.

Chapter 1: Blah
Part 1: Blah and Blah is actually Part 1: Blah, Chapter 1: Blah and Blah.

So, I write it as Chapter 1,
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3 and so on…

I write it in a weird backwards way instead of going Part 1, Chapters 1 to 5. I do Chapter 1, Parts 1 to 5 instead. I do that as a way to trick myself.

And yes, I do use scene breaks by using the word [BREAK] or this “****” as well. Though some chapters have two scene breaks while others have just one.

Do you understand it now?

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Nope! But as long as it makes sense to you, I guess that’s all that matters. ¯\_(ﭢ)_/¯

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A few months? I finished Project Succession on June 10 and it’s over 115k words long! Should waiting till September or October to tackle that monster be the feasible to do?

I mean I need to do some other writing while I wait. I suppose I could do a shorter story that won’t take too much time away from Project Succession.

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Hopefully yes

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Looks like I am tackling short Alagossian stories, no novels. I need to get back into the writing groove.

I will try working on Project Succession during the first or second week of October to give myself time to focus on world-buildling Alagossia and doing shorter stories.

:sweat_smile:

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Try not to overdo it and give your brain a rest :joy:

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What do you mean by “overdoing it”? Are you talking about me world-building and/or writing smaller stories before touching Project Succession?

I could read more, I tend to struggle getting back into reading books, mainly fiction novels.

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I mean from the sounds of things, you’re putting a lot of work into your series. I’m more reminding you to remember to take breaks :joy:

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i’m in the middle of editing rn :melting_face:

here’s some tips/tricks i find useful:

  • shelf it for at least 3 months. you need fresh eyes.
  • there are two types of editing. Developmental edits are the Big Ones; cutting scenes, re-writing characters, ect. Line edits are the polishing ones; grammar, punctuation, spelling, sentence structure. I find it easier to break them apart and do them seperately.
  • re-typing the whole thing instead of spot editing is a good way to catch mistakes. it’s also very time consuming.
  • changing fonts stops your brain from autofilling typos
  • using text-to-speech or reading out loud will help you find typos and identify stilted/unnatural writing.
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Taking breaks is so foreign to me…

When I am “in the zone” or really hyperfixated, I CANNOT take breaks and I remembered trying a pomodoro thing and that was difficult to do.

I was never good at taking breaks and my body isn’t getting younger, since I am in my mid-thirties. So, that is very challenging to do for me.

Once I start the chapter I won’t stop until I feel I need to stop. Also, don’t mind doing a few short stories here and there to get back in the writing groove until I tackle Project Succession in October.

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Looks like I am waiting till October… :sweat_smile: :laughing:

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Just try to be careful so you don’t burn yourself out too badly. You’ll just start hating your works ;-;

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Thank you. I will have to write with timers.

Like 25/5 or 50/10 minutes long to keep myself from getting too worked up and deep into the story when my body needs a break.

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For me, editing a first draft was out of the question. I wasn’t going to expend that much energy on the first draft when I’d just be writing an entirely new second draft anyways. So it was better for me to put my novel on a shelf for a while, take a step back so when I came back to it, I’d have a fresh perspective as a reader, and then start from scratch on the second draft. I didn’t go and edit what I’d already written. I completely overhauled it and started writing the book all over again with the mindset that I’m fixing the issues that were in the original story. Kind of like a fix it fic of my own work. This solved so many more issues than I would have been able to if I tried to patch up the first draft with editing.

Sometimes it’s better to start fresh rather than try to fix something that is fundamentally broken. The first draft is always the worst draft, and that’s okay. It’s supposed to be. It’s what gets the idea out of your head and makes it tangible so you can look at it and see what needs improving in the next draft. Kind of like inventing something, you make it, it doesn’t work, but you see why, so you can make something entirely new that works better. You don’t try and fix the first prototype. You rebuild from scratch.

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That makes total sense and I was honestly thinking about that one day. So I may have to start anew instead of fixing the first draft because it needs it truthfully.

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