Things You'll Need:
- Your novel
- Your plot notebook
- Your wouldbuilding notebook
- Your Outline
- A new notbook
-
Step 1
Hiding
You finished it? That’s fantastic! Now, put it away. Hide it, and don’t look at it for about 8 weeks. You heard me, go. I will be here when you get back.
*waits 2 months*
Okay, now if you can promise me that you have not read, looked, or even touched that book in 8 weeks, we can continue.
Print your baby out. All of it. You can either do this at home, or take it to a place that prints large files. Make sure that each page is numbered, has your name, the title of the book and a nifty copy right disclaimer on it. Like this...
Your Name
Best Novel Evah
Page 1 of 321
(c) Copyright 2007 or 08 or 97 if you wrote it ten years ago.
This way you can put it back together when you drop it, or throw it during the next couple of weeks. (But make sure you keep the copy on your computer!) -
Step 2
Reading
Read it. Every wonderful word of it. Using a red pen make little marks on it for typos. Don’t get in a hurry here. This is where you get to be anal, so take your time. You can put little stars here and there for things you KNOW must be changed. Remember Jasmine and her hair? Did your MC change his name from Sam to Mike mid way through?
Also, put little hearts or something next to things you love. Did Sam say something that was just wonderful? Put a heart by it to remind you that not all is bad.
Now, comes the really fun part. *snicker* -
Step 3
Editing
Get your notebook, the new one and at the top of the first page, write scene one.
This is where line edits start. Read the story again, but if you see something that needs to be change in scene 1 page four third line down...make a note of it in your notebook.
Scene 1, page 4, line 3...Sam needs to tell Jessi that he has the baby. (You forgot to have him tell her?)
Then continue on.
Scene 14, page 87, lines 14-25 and page 88, lines 1-12...The room needs to be darker. Put up green drapes and have Derek pull them back a bit and look out the window as he tells Sam about the plot to kill Jessi.
Scene 25, page 168, line 3...It is still night, Jessi cannot see the stone arch. Put up some candles or have her sleep before this scene starts.
See? Understand what I mean here? Do this for the entire book. Then once the line edits are complete from start to finish, open the file on the computer and going through the notebook, and the red marks on the manuscript. Fix the problems. Then put the story away, again.
In a couple of weeks, get it out and have it printed out again and reread and edit it. I bet you that it won’t take nearly as long and by this time you will have a third draft, that is read for, *gasp* submission!
Comments
Delaplane said
on 4/23/2009 good advice on how to edit a novel