![]() How is your setting? Is it fully realised? Does it need more or less detail? Is it integral to the story?.Are your characters well-developed? Do they seem like they could exist as flesh and blood? Do they behave in ways that are consistent with how they are characterized in prior scenes?.Does your plot make sense? What about the subplots? Do the subplots work with the plot, or do they distract from it or make the book seem like too much is happening?.Is your story structured well? If you followed some version of the three-act structure, did you maintain that structure and does it create a satisfying form?.Here are some of the questions you may want to ask yourself as you revise: If you are writing science fiction or fantasy, you will need to make sure your world-building is solid. If you are writing a crime novel, ensure that your clues are appropriately placed and reveal just enough to readers. For example, if you are writing a romance novel, remind yourself to examine how your love story progresses as a continuous arc. ![]() Some of your points will be genre-specific. Make yourself a checklist of issues you want to examine over the course of your novel. Write up a list of questions to guide your editing Taking a short break will allow you to come back down to earth from the giddy drunkenness of creating and see your writing’s detail and large-scale structure with less immediate involvement and greater clarity. when you create, this is the time to let your unconscious fill the page, without the ‘sober’ internal censor, the self-aware mind. Even if you think this is bad advice (and it certainly is if you take it literally), it makes sense metaphorically. Ernest Hemingway supposedly said ‘write drunk, edit sober’. To revise effectively distance is important. If you are a writer who edits as you go, taking small breaks between finishing sections will also help and may give green story ideas a little time to grow and unfurl. You’ll be surprised at the types of connections that you’ll make on returning to work. ![]() You might think this will make you lose momentum, but if you give yourself a set period of time for a break, you’ll return refreshed and ready.Įven when you take a week-long break from working on your draft, your unconscious mind will still be slotting things into place. You can read every tip there is on how to edit your novel, but if you’re so used to reading over errors that you miss them, you won’t weed these out.īefore you even attempt to edit your draft, take a break and step away. Know how to edit your novel with fresh eyes: Take a break To edit your own writing, try these 8 simple steps: 1. When there are fewer minor errors, a hired editor can focus on large-scale issues: Plot holes and inconsistencies and issues of style and tone. Learning how to edit your novel before a professional editor even sees it is smart. ![]()
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