How To Edit A Novel

Editing a novel is one of those things you don’t really think about. 

You think about writing a novel and the ideas flowing onto the page. The thought of deleting every word, reworking every character and building upon the tension you forgot to include, often editing's not what writers think about. 

And that’s a good thing.

You don’t want to be thinking about all the changes you need to make before you’ve written your first draft - if you did, you would never write anything down.

Once you do get to the point where you need to kill your darlings, it can be a harrowing experience. Here are some tips to make it easier:

1. Save every version of your story. Every version has some magic to it. Every version has something that sparkles. Every version is close to our hearts. Sometimes we write the best scene ever, but it doesn’t fit in the final version. Save that and use it later. It’s also really rewarding to see how far you’ve come in your writing journey. Comparing your first draft with your final draft is something that will bring proud tears to your eyes.

2. Edit slowly. Edit too fast and you’ll be crying in a puddle of tears. Edit as much as your heart can take at any one time. Go through your story scene by scene, add more sensory detail, take out the waffle, add in character descriptions, and get rid of all the ‘ands’. Go as slow as you need. Let yourself accept these changes before moving on to the next. 

3. Enlist outside help. Getting people to look over your work - beta readers, editors, family and friends - is invaluable. The Author gets so attached to their work, they don’t see what doesn’t fit. We don’t see the establishing shot might actually bore readers. We might not see the confusing part in the middle. We might not understand that our oh-so-clever jokes aren’t quite landing. Getting feedback from readers tells us what they see, what they like, and what doesn’t fit. And when you’re writing for readers, the readers are the most important people.

4. Research everything. This is different to the planning stage - this one is all about grammar rules and writing rules, and evoking emotion rules. Anytime you’re stuck, research. Look up how to write with the 5 senses (or 100 senses), even if you know how. Research how to show, not tell, even if you know how. Research pacing. Research characterisation. Research everything. Our brains get tired, and we can forget how to add the detail we need, or we overlook something. Researching all the simple bits re-ignites and refocuses our brains. Research, research, research.

5. Hire an editor. Hire someone with industry experience. Look at their reviews and their credentials. Hire someone you trust. An editor will go through your work and give you feedback based on what they’ve seen do well in the market. They’ve read and edited thousands of books (hopefully), and they know what works, what doesn’t, what’s unique, what’s overused - they know it all, and they know how to fix the issues they find. My editor was invaluable with her feedback.

6. Trust your gut. Get all the feedback and critiques you can, but at the end of the day, trust your gut. If someone tells you a paragraph is boring but you feel it’s necessary, keep it. If someone tells you a character is unlikable and that’s how you intended it, keep it. Getting the feedback lets you see how others view your story, but at the end of the day, it’s yours. It’s your brand, and it’ll have your name written on the cover. Trust your gut.

7. Read books in your genre and compare how they’re written. Not the big picture - that’s the ‘before you write’ kinda advice. Read how they create sentences, how they describe their characters, and notice the wording they use. Compare it to your story and see how differently/similarly you’ve written. You want to match the vibe of the genre, but you don’t want to be getting into any copywriting issues. Plus, if this is your first book, it’s a great way to also learn formatting.

8. Let yourself feel the emotions. You may feel possessive, you may feel angry, you may feel proud. Let yourself feel everything. If you need to cry over some changes, cry. If you feel proud, go out and celebrate. If you feel possessive, ask yourself why. Let yourself go through the motions; they’re all there to get you to the end goal of a published book.

9. Read through your story in stages. Read the book to get a sense of the big picture, make those developmental edits that might change the entire course of the book. Read the book line by line, making sure the sentences aren’t clunky but flow really nicely. Read the book word for word and make each word the best possible word you can use - but don’t go creating a weird book readers will need a thesaurus for. 

10.  Celebrate. Getting to the editing stage of a book is a massive deal. Throw yourself a party, go out for a meal. Do something nice for yourself and let yourself revel in it. You’ve done really well. 

Congratulations on making it this far. It’s truly impressive to start the editing phase. 

Do you have any advice or stories from when you were editing?