Writer Patty’s Publication Adventure

Coming to the end of a rough draft is an exhilarating process. Knowing that you can do it, that you have done it, that you have created a complete novel is something that does not get old, even after completing many novels. No matter how good you get at the writing process, every rough draft will need to be edited. This is one of the fiction writing tips that should never be ignored.  If you have mastered the basics such as good grammar, formatting and punctuation, some of the editing steps will go faster than the others.

I liken editing to the process of cleaving, cutting and polishing a diamond. Diamonds take a long time to form, and when they are mined from the earth, they are rough but still beautiful. Each stage in the process is important and essential to getting the most potential out of the tough gem.

Cleaving is the part of editing that can be started right after you have typed ‘the end’. This is where you step back and take a look at the large picture. Macro editing. Do you feel satisfied with your ending at that very moment? Do you have scenes that you will need to insert to make more sense out of your ending? Do you have a character that you need to develop more or one that you need to get rid of all together?

I recommend not actually making any of those changes right away. The diamond cleaver turns the rough gem in his hand and makes observations, then he sets the diamond in a type of cement and walks away from it, letting it cool. I suggest writing your observations and to do list down in notes, backup your draft one final time and then put it away for a minimum of thirty days.

During that waiting period, I take the time to celebrate, but I also start work on a new project. I will work on rough notes or an outline for a new novel or if I do not have an idea for the next book, I will find writing prompts and exercises to do that will usually give me some ideas. A week before I start editing, I will spend some time reading advice from others on the editing process.

When you come back to the manuscript read it all the way through. You will have a fresh perspective on it, and you can start working on those notes that you made earlier with confidence and precision. Tweak your ending, adjust your beginning, remove those characters or scenes that don’t further the plot and add the small foreshadowing details that add depth to the story and give more meaning to the ending. When you are done, put the manuscript away again. For a day, a week or longer if you need to.

For more ideas on macro editing you might find this .pdf file by Robin L. Perini helpful.

And a great book I recommend is:

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print

Coming up in Part II of Editing, we will go over the cutting process, where the dust flies and the sparkle begins to come through as clean edges are crafted.

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Tags: diamond diamonds, Draft, editing, fiction writing tips, Macro editing, new novel, process, rough gem, time, writing fiction

This entry was posted by writerpatty on Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 at 1:05 pm and is filed under editing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.