Note From KMW: I’m often asked to create more resources about self-editing your fiction. The thing about good editing is that really it’s just good writing. All the same principles apply. The only difference is whether you’re better at applying those principles (plot, character arc, theme, engaging narrative, dialogue, etc.) off the cuff in the first draft—or (like most of us) after a bit of time and perspective in the second draft.
So really, the answer to “How do I edit my story?” is “Learn good storytelling principles and figure out where your story isn’t fulfilling them.
But, of course, editing tends to feel a little more overwhelming than that. At the end of writing a first draft, most of us tend to either feel a general sense of “this is good!” or the unease of “something‘s wrong.” Either way, where do you start that all-important second draft?
Today, I’m pleased to share with you a guest post from Ali Luke of the popular writing site Aliventures. In it, she guides you through the foundational elements of moving through the big-picture edits of the second draft into the more minute and specific concerns of the third draft.
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When you think about “writing a novel”, chances are you’re picturing the drafting part of the process: getting words down onto a blank page. While that’s a huge (and exciting!) part of the writing process, there’s a lot more that goes into a complete novel. For many writers, self-editing your fiction takes as long as—or longer—than producing the first rough draft.
Self-editing your fiction is when you go back through your own writing, making changes to improve it.
This is your chance to truly see your story come together. Perhaps it felt like your first draft didn’t quite live up to your vision for the story. As you edit, you’ll see that story come together and fully take shape.
It can be tricky to know how best to approach the self-editing process. So here’s a straightforward, systematic eight-step process you can use to work through your novel.
First Draft to Second Draft: 4 Steps of Rewriting
It’s tempting to start editing by opening up your first draft and looking for little, obvious things—like typos and grammatical errors. But while those will need fixing eventually, you want to focus on the bigger picture first. You don’t want to perfect a scene … only to find it later makes sense to cut it altogether.
Here are four big steps to follow as you work through rewriting your first draft.
Step 1: Take Some Time Off … Then Re-Read the Whole Thing
Take a break between finishing Draft One and starting Draft Two. There’s no magic formula for how long a break to take, but I like to have at least a couple of weeks off, ideally a month. That way, when you come back to your work, you’ll be able to see it with fresh eyes.
After your break, sit down and read through your whole first draft, making brief notes or annotations if that’s helpful. You don’t have to do this in a single session, but I find it helps to keep it to no more than a few days. That way, you can get an accurate sense of the current state of your story.
Step 2: Get Your Story’s Timeline Firmly Nailed Down
Once you’ve done an initial quick read-through, you’ll want to work through your manuscript more closely. My first step is usually to fix the mess that I’ve made of my timeline!
When you’re drafting, you might not have a clear sense of when something is happening in your story’s timeline. If you’ve got a linear narrative, it might clearly take place between Event A and Event C, but are those a week or a month apart? And if you’ve got dual timelines going on, it’s even more important to keep everything straight.
I like to create a timeline spreadsheet where I track each chapter or scene; the point of view character; and the day, date, and time the chapter or scene takes place. This helps me figure out if I need to make changes.
Step 3: Look at the Balance of Action, Dialogue, and Description
Does your first draft feel like it’s a little out of balance? That could be because you’re leaning too heavily on one element of story—while having too light a touch with others.
Personally, I struggle with writing descriptions, so that’s what I generally need to add in. I’ll have plenty of dialogue and some moments of action, but my characters can come across as talking heads in a featureless room.
The “right” balance of these elements will depend in part on your genre and your personal writing style. Some genres are naturally action-packed (think thrillers and adventure stories). Others may lean more heavily on description and world-building (like fantasy and science-fiction novels).
Step 4. Check Whether Your Pacing is Too Fast, Too Slow (Or Both!)
In your first draft, it can be really tricky to get the pacing right. You might spend several days writing a 3,000 word chapter, which takes perhaps 10 minutes to read. Action that seemed painstakingly slow as you wrote it may now seem to whip by too fast.
Or you might have the opposite problem. When you drafted your chapter, perhaps with some long breaks in the process, it wasn’t obvious to you that you’d spent 50% of it describing your character’s thoughts. As you re-read, it’s painfully slow.
The rewriting stage is a great chance to refine your pacing, slowing up, speeding down, and tweaking as needed.
Second Draft to Third Draft: 4 Steps for Detailed Editing
Once you’ve addressed the big-picture issues and you’ve got a solid second draft, it’s time to move on to more detailed self-editing, line by line.
Tip: Not quite at that stage yet? You can go back to Step 1 and do a full pass through your novel again.
Step 1: Master Dialogue Formatting and Punctuation
I don’t think any writer finds formatting and punctuating dialogue an exciting task, but getting this right is so important.
Dialogue has some unique rules and conventions, and if you break these, you’ll either confuse readers (who may not know which character is speaking) or look a bit amateur.
Punctuation in general can be tricky for fiction writers, but when it comes to dialogue, there are some unique rules, like:
- Always start a new line for a new speaker.
- Use a comma before a dialogue tag. (“I agree,” John said.)
- Use a period before an action beat. (“I agree.” John set his book down.)
If you’re not 100% sure you’re setting out your dialogue correctly, take a look through the Author Learning Center’s 8 Essential Rules for Punctuating Dialogue.
Step 2: Watch Out for Unintentional Repetition
Repetition is a powerful (and pleasing) tool, but unintentional repetition will jar readers out of your story.
Here are a couple of examples of unintentional repetition, with the repeated words highlighted:
“I’m just glad we made it back,” Joanna said, sharply, and turned her back on Tom.
This looks like the author hasn’t noticed “back” was used twice. Even though the word means different things each time, it’s will stick out awkwardly to the reader.
Tom sighed. “You don’t have to be like that.”
“Like what?”
“You know exactly what.” He sighed.
Tom repeats the same action twice (sighing). While most examples aren’t quite this close together, it’s easy to accidentally write a character who defaults to a particular action or dialogue phrase.
Step 3: Cut Down Wordy Sentences
When you’re busy drafting or rewriting a big chunk of your novel, it’s perfectly normal for your sentences to come out a little convoluted. Perhaps you’ve packed an awful lot into a single sentence, or you were going for a particular tone that didn’t quite work.
As you make detailed edits, watch out for overly long sentences. If they feel wordy or overladen, see if you can trim them down. Is every word essential? Could you split a complicated sentence into two or three shorter ones?
Step 4: Avoid Outlandish Alternatives to “Said”
Another mistake that tends to make writers seem inexperienced is reaching for the thesaurus to come up with alternatives to the (perfectly good) dialogue tag “said.”
If you’ve noticed a character opine, aver, proclaim, utter, or exclaim, you’ll know these “said-bookisms” can be distracting. Instead of focusing on the dialogue itself, you start wondering what outlandish tag the author is going to reach for next.
To avoid using “said” an excessive number of times, use dialogue beats some of the time instead. You can also let some lines of dialogue stand alone, as long as it’s clear who’s speaking.
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Editing your manuscript can feel daunting, but by approaching it systematically, you’ll get to see your story truly come together. Whether you’re self-publishing or seeking a traditional publishing deal, it’s crucial to get your story into the best shape you can before it goes out to your editor or beta readers.
Wordplayers, tell me your opinions! Have you got a great tip for self-editing your fiction? Or is there a particular aspect of editing you struggle with? Tell me in the comments!
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