The Editing Process - From First Draft To Final

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Editing is what writing is. 

We all know the saying “Writing is Re-writing.”

Anyone who writes for an audience knows most of the work happens after the first draft. And if you’re an editor, you know that all too well. 

There are a lot of questions around editing. How to do it? What should the writer focus on? How many times do they need to rewrite their work until it’s perfection?

I’m now on my 2nd draft of my 2nd novel — the sequel to my recent release, What’s Left. A literary novel set in a world where only women exist. 

And since I’m here, procrastinating, I thought I would share my editing process. 

After the grueling first draft, I let the manuscript sit. I give myself a much needed break and I try to forget about my story so I can look at it with fresh eyes. 

Turns out, the forgetting part for this manuscript was surprisingly easy. As soon as I punched the last full stop, I couldn’t remember a thing. Barely remembered my characters names. 

So I got stuck in. 

The First Re-Read:

This one is self-explanatory. You re-read what you wrote. I like to make notes about what worked and what didn’t. Any scenes I want to keep for future use and any that I want to scrap.

It’s very important that you don’t touch anything from this first draft. Any changes must be changed in a new document. Very important. Don’t forget. 

The Plan:

Now I know nothing worked and everything will be scraped, I start working on the plan for the 2nd draft. 

Okay, not everything was to be scraped. But surprisingly, everything that I thought was trash actually worked really well. Everything that flowed from my finger tips and I was excited to write just didn’t work. 

Once I know the vibe I’m going for, I’ll write a very thin plan — the beginning, the middle, the end, the goals, the obsticles. All the things you’re supposed to do before the first draft.

The 2nd draft:

This one feels like the first draft but with more direction. 

Do I look at the plan I wrote? No. Unless I get really, really stuck.

The plan is just to help me get my thoughts in order.

Repeat, until you’re happy with the story line:

This is purely for the storyline. If you’re unhappy with the characters, or the scenes, or your word choice. Just hold your horses for a moment.

Chapter by chapter:

Next thing I like to do is read the manuscript focusing on one chapter at a time. Does each character have a goal? Are they working towards it? Is there conflict? Is it driving the story forward? Is it interesting? 

Go over each chapter with intense detail. 

Character by Character:

This one takes a while. Re-read the manuscript with a focus on each character.

Are their storylines tied up nicely at the end? Do details about them change? Are they heavily present in the first third of the book and then disappear for no reason? Is their backstory hidden yet clear?

Ask yourself every question about every character. 

Scene by Scene:

Go through each scene. You might have multiple in a chapter. You might have some that go for multiple chapters. 

Does each scene make sense? Does it flow? Is there a point to each one?

Line by line:

Does each sentence make sense? Do they make you want to keep reading? Do they flow? 

Word by word:

My favourite part. 

Does every single word need to be there? Can you pick a better word? Have you used the same word over and over? Do the words look pretty on the page?

This is where you look at your story, your writing, your grammar in excruciating detail. It might be painful, it might be fun. You might go clinically insane. 

Once you are happy with your story line, your chapters, your characters, your scenes, your sentences, and your words, it’s time to move on to beta-readers.

Beta Readers are wonderful people who read your book and tell you everything they hate about it.

Of course, you can edit whatever you like in any order. But this is the way I like to do it. 

What’s your favourite part of the editing process?