I saw the angel in the marble…and I carved until I set him free…
Michelangelo
Editing, in my opinion, is the fun part of writing. You already have the rough draft nailed down, and now you’re going to hone it, add all those things that will make it sparkle – carve it until you see that masterpiece you’ve been trying to create.
For me, there are three phases to writing a book:
- Creating – the Discovery of the story/senes. Again, keep a notebook of all the things you want to put in it later…during the…
- Revision phase – It’s the phase where I hone the theme and add special elements, like the five senses, or thematic metaphors. I draw out scenes that need to be longer, shorten ones that are too long, even delete unnecessary scenes. This is where I add character textures such as:
ü Idiosyncrasies – mannerisms, something the character says out of habit.
ü Food and drink preferences
ü Clothing! and kind of car!
Which leads us to the:
- Editing phase – print it out and read it slowly, taking notes in the lines, proofing it, and going through my checklist!
Editing Checklist:
What to look for in editing
ü Scenes that pack a punch – Do each of your scenes have a purpose? Do you need to make the slower scenes faster? Can you combine two slow scenes, cutting away the less important to the important?
ü Action – Are there sufficient reasons for everything your character does in that scene, and have you planted the clues for that action or decision long before they do it?
ü Likeable characters – Does your hero/heroine have great qualities and make you truly like them? Make sure that in each scene, there is something likeable about your character, that special spark that sets them apart.
ü Surprise – is the disappointment worthy of your character, is it plausible and unexpected?
ü Art – have you mastered the mechanics? Are they tight?
Mechanics Overview
1. Are there five senses in each scene?
2. Replace the adverbs with strong verbs, the adjectives with defined Nouns. Cut all “ly”- ending adverbs if possible.
3. Be ruthless with passive sentences – “was” and “were” are good clues to a passive sentence. Although sometimes you need a passive sentence to let the reader rest, most of your sentences should be active.
4. Repeating sentences – If two sentences say the same thing, cut one.
5. Two adjectives together weaken both – use the strongest one.
6. Read through your dialogue – do you need tags? Do you have enough action between words? Do you repeat names? Do you need to delete tags to make it faster? Is there enough white space between chunks of dialogue?
7. Do you have a list of overused words? Do a word search and fix/delete those!
Sometimes it helps to print it up and look at it like you would a book. (I do this by changing my page to landscape, then changing the typestyle to Garamond, then separating it into two columns).
Take your time with the editing. The really hard work – pulling it from your brain – is over. Now you get to enjoy watching it come to life!
I’ll be posting an actual scene I edited, with the edited comments, tomorrow, so you can see the process. It’s -10 here! I hope you’re all staying warm!
See you tomorrow!
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