I officially finished the major editing portion on my WIP, just in time for Christmas! I determined for this first novel to do a chunk of developmental and line editing myself, before sending to professional editors. I might change this process in the future, but I am still developing the kind of story that I would like to write, so want to have as much “me” in it as possible, at least until I solidify who I am as a writer. As mentioned in a previous post, my LEAST favorite part of writing is the editing process, but I still see the benefits. It is similar to the phonics classes that I had to take throughout my entire college education, yet they turned out to be some of the most necessary when I got into the classroom. I don’t have all the steps to success. I am still learning myself, but I can walk through the tidbits that have helped me to enjoy my writing and nudge me towards being successful.
Building Blocks.
Set a long-term goal– Attempt to make this as specific as possible. The same process can work for the first draft. I’ve covered one such process here. Some who are starting out or working around kids or job might have a schedule that looks different. It is important to break this long-term vision into a daily goal. Also: Write it down! If planning for a month, estimate how many words or pages will be included and divide by the thirty days in the month. This will give you a tentative goal to be completed by the end of the month. An option for goal-setting is to add more words/pages on the weekend, if time allows. I like to have a consistent goal each day, so I keep that word count in mind daily. When editing, I estimated around 15 pages a day would get me to the end of my book, but this will look different for everyone. Some days are just harder than others.
Doing everything I can – Try to meet the goal every day! This is the toughest part because life happens. It is easy to push snooze or to go out with friends instead of taking thirty minutes to an hour for writing. Each day of success builds on itself and yet, sometimes the circumstances in life impact my routine. There have been times that getting up thirty minutes works best, right after work, or the wee minutes before bed. The key is consistency. Period.
Being patient with myself – Everyone edits differently. Some take notes as they go. Others read their manuscript out loud. I like to print off my (nearly!) completed manuscript, like the book formats that we see in the Little Women movies. This part really makes me feel like I have accomplished something, like I can be a real writer. Let me stop here to say: If you are writing, you are a real writer. Whether that be a blog, poetry, or 1,000 books. But the key is to actually sit in that chair and put words to paper. Dreaming about writing is not writing. Planning for writing is not writing. It does not have to be perfect. It doesn’t even have to be finished. It just has to be there. I learned this the hard way. Now back to the tips!
Embracing the newness – This might not look in the long run like what I thought it would in the beginning. I could have deleted complete scenes or rearranged one character’s dialogue. However I chose to fix my manuscript, I allow the editor in me to do that, for the set amount of days. I might be surprised!
Rereading my manuscript – After I’ve scribbled all over my pages, I type up my updated manuscript, re-arranging scenes and deleting repeats that I have found within the story. This places my book into the format that I am happy with and I am ready to read it again. I take the perspective that I am reading an ebook. There is a mode in Scrivener, the writing program that I use, which includes a blackout mode, allowing me to see only what I’ve written. I take notes in my writing notebook, including page numbers, and decide which are going to be changed and which should wait for the editor’s thoughts.
Send it out! – I’ve found an editor for the developmental part, which means this person will “bleed all over” my manuscript and send it back, allowing me to change or reject edits and repeat this process a couple more times. Once this developmental part is done, I hope to find a line editor, who will correct my grammatical and sentence structure mistakes. This might sound like overkill, but you know you’ve read that extremely popular book and still found a typo! It apparently has not affected the soar of sales in that case, but I want to do everything I can to push my book into the realm of success.
Shell it out – This will cost money. I’ve saved up during this editing process and hope it will pay off. I have no other guarantees, but try to search for editors who have experience and who have similar passions when editing their book as I do when writing. For instance, I am not going to choose an editor who works mostly with non-fiction or children’s books because (right now) these are not the types of books I’m trying to publish.
On to YOUR manuscripts! If you’ve ever attempted writing, what types of things did you really enjoy? Poetry, self-help, mystery, blogs, comics? What is your least favorite part of the writing process (if you don’t know, I’d wager that you find the piece that you avoid most ardently)? What are you excited to write today? -HM.
