Author: JoyeEverett715

Requesters: BrookeNotAshley and ErynneStorm

Category: Writing Tips

How to Edit Your Book

The editing process can be described as any point in the writing process after the first draft is completed. Lots of people publish first drafts on Wattpad. While that's something some people don't have an issue with, opinion is shifting to the idea that it's much more beneficial to go through an entire rewriting and editing process before your book hits the Wattpad stage. The obvious question: with so many moving parts to writing fiction, how does one make their novel-editing process less daunting?

The key is breaking the process down into individual tasks. Though many fiction writers denounce the writing process in the cookie-cutter sense, one might find it beneficial to refer back to its basic framework. The main steps in the writing process as learned in school are planning, drafting, revising, editing, feedback, and publishing. A basic knowledge of the writing process, even if you aren't strictly following those steps in that order, greatly helps. From there, one can further divide the workload into manageable steps. I'll be focusing on revising, editing, and feedback in this article.

Though this is technically part of the drafting stage, I strongly advise rewriting your first draft (I only do it once, but oftentimes people will do it many times before editing). Rewriting gives you the opportunity to correct the biggest plot and character problems in a much more organic way than scrutinizing the draft for mistakes that will take more energy to complete. The steps that I'm advising to follow below all assume you have already rewritten your novel.

Step 1: add and/or rewrite any scenes to convey your ideas in a stronger way. 

Revision is everything related to the elements of the story itself: plot, character, conflict, theme, and setting. (There are many guiding questions you can use as you revise your novel online, so I won't go into detail about the mechanics of each element.) The first step is to quickly read over your manuscript and see if there are any additional scenes that need to be added into the book or rewritten to better convey your character, plot, and theme-related ideas. This is also a great time to add subplots to the story if you want.

Step 2: spam comments for plot, character, conflict, theme, and setting. 

This involves things such as removing minor out-of-character instances and changing details of the plot to make more sense. I find these revisions usually don't require a total scene rewrite unless the problematic detail is prevalent throughout a chapter, act, or the whole book. The way I tend to revise these minor bugs is going through the whole manuscript in a week and spamming the thing with comments in Google Docs. These comments can range from "Add more emotion in this scene" to "Remove instances of crying for this character, unless it's at a serious plot beat for her", and they are all a huge help for later.

Feel free to cut or add more scenes as you see fit, and remember to keep any subplots you added during Step 1 in mind when spamming your book. Do not, and I repeat, do not, edit the book for phrasing or grammar - turn off the function in your program if you need to. You can focus on changing the phrasing later.

Step 3: Apply changes. 

Read over the book again over another week (feel free to take a break between these steps if you need it) and resolve those comments you made, making the changes you noted before. Add and cut more scenes if you need to. Add more emotion to your scenes, and make the characters more delicious, their reactions more wild. Place the right clues in the existing scenes to make them line up with that awesome new subplot. Do not edit for phrasing or grammar yet.

Step 4: Edit for flow, phrasing, and grammar. 

Editing focuses on the "mechanics" of the story - phrasing, flow, and grammar. I find that this process doesn't require that I comment for every mistake (though be my guest if that helps you). This part of the process involves items including, but not limited to: the flow of the prose; making each character's speech style unique; removing clichés in your expression; cutting unnecessary paragraphs, phrases, and words; correcting incorrect grammar. One way you can easily achieve this step is to go through the prose and read it aloud. Repeat this process at least once.

Step 5: Get beta readers. 

Send the work to 1-3 beta-readers. I suggest contacting possible candidates as soon as you finish the rewrite, just in case one or more flake and you have to replace them. They'll look over your book and essentially do steps 2 and 4 again for you to make sure your book makes sense and is readable. Expect heavy criticism of the manuscript, but don't get discouraged - this is how you improve your work.

I also suggest having some general questions at the end of your manuscript. There are writing websites with amazing guiding questions to help your readers know what to look for. Feel free to also voice any worries or concerns you have about your novel to your beta readers - they're here to help you and either ease your worries or give you tips to improve what you see as a problem in the manuscript.

Step 6: Apply final changes. 

The final step is to apply the beta readers' changes to your novel. Go through and repeat steps 3-4, changing what they suggest to you to change. (If you're not sure if a suggestion should be applied, get another opinion on it.) Perform a final editing and fine-tuning sweep of the manuscript before publishing.

Though this goes without saying, this process will not work for everyone, as the sequence of steps is just a suggestion I have from personal experience, having almost finished my third full-length novel. However, the key is steps. If my method doesn't work, do some research and experimentation. As a review, here are my steps:

1. Rewrite the draft. (Advised: wait a few weeks before editing.)

2. Add/rewrite any scenes that need it.

3. Revise the draft by comment-spamming about the elements of the story.

4. Apply your changes.

5. Edit for phrasing, flow, and grammar.

6. Send book to 1-3 beta readers.

7. Apply final changes.

Want to submit your own Tip? 
Comment in this book and email your entry to [email protected]. We'll review it, and if we think it's well-written and helpful to the Wattpad community, we'll post it! Your entry may be something you have written previously, even if it is published elsewhere. (=

Have a Request?
Comment on the first chapter with the topic you'd like to see. Your suggestion might just turn into an article!