In August, I went over how I write a first draft, so I thought it would be fun to go over my process for editing.
In the past, when I wasn’t using any kind of outline, editing was a big drain. I’d start reading through my second draft and hate everything because nothing made much sense. Now that I do a lot more planning, I typically end up with four or five drafts before I’m ready to bring on the beta readers and get feedback on what’s working and what’s not.
But first I have to write a first draft.
After I type The End, I let the book sit for a while.
And by ‘a while’, I mean up to a year. Luckily for me, I have a lot of books in various stages of editing, which means letting one marinate for a year is no problem.
When I’m ready to work on draft two, I do a read-through first. A read-through is exactly what it sounds like: I read the book like I’ve picked it up off the shelf. I don’t stop and fix grammar or spelling errors (hard as that is) or continuity errors or horrible descriptions or bad dialogue or chapters with no endings. I just read it as quickly as possible. While I’m reading, I jot down notes in a blank document about things I need to fix or change or improve upon.
Then it’s time to get down to business and I slowly go through the book, chapter by chapter, fixing all the bad stuff. Because it’s a second draft, sometimes I change a lot. I’ve deleted chapters, added new ones, tweaked subplots, and changed character names. I try to make sure the spelling and grammar is good and that the descriptions flow and continuity errors are long gone, but my main goal is to ensure that the the plot and subplots make sense. That’s my only focus.
When I’m done editing, I once again let the book sit for a while.
Draft three is when I concentrate more on how the sentences flow, if the descriptions are good, and get rid of any spelling and grammar errors.
Then I let the book sit again.
Draft four is when I make sure the book flows and no big or small errors stand out.
And in an ideal world, when I finish reading draft four, I decide everything’s looking good and other people need to weigh in.
I share my process to help other writers, because I know how hard editing is for many. There’s also no one right way to edit. It’s all about finding what works for you, and for now, this way works for me.
Follow up with me in ten years and the process will probably be completely different!