Today we’re going to talk about:

- What editing your manuscript looks like, from first draft to done

- How different editing journeys can play out

- What questions to ask at different parts of the editing journey

Remember Your Reader

Write for Yourself – Edit for Your Reader

Editing is about telling a clear story

What makes a clear story depends on who your readers are. For instance, if your readers are younger, a clear story is more likely to have a heroic character arc with simpler language.

Before you begin the editing process, you need to understand who your reader is so you can answer the editing questions from your readers point of view.

The Editing Journey

Editing is where your story comes to life

During the editing process, you will examine every aspect of your story: your plot, characters, setting, word choice, structure, and more

Many writers dread the editing process because they’re not sure what to expect. Let’s look at a linear editing journey.

First Draft

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Story Editing

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Critique Partners/Beta Readers

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Line Editing

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Professional Editors

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Final Draft

What makes a good editing process is up to you

Some writers prefer to work by themselves the entire time. Some writers like to work with other people the entire time. Some like to use technology; some do not. Some will go through one round of revisions, some will go through dozens.

That’s all OK.

It is in the story editing that you look at your plot, characters and the world.

The line editing is where you look at how you’re using language to convey your story.

Story Editing

Story Editing look at the strength of your story

During story editing, you will evaluate your story’s structure, plot(s), characters and world to make sure you’re telling a story that your readers will want to read.

Story structure examines how your story begins, proceeds, and ends. You want to make sure you’re telling the right story at the right time.

Structure editing questions:

Does my story have a solid structure?

Does my story start at the right place?

Am I revealing information in an engaging way?

Plot

Plot (different from structure), looks at the progression of events throughout your story.

Plot editing questions

Does my story have enough conflict?

Does my story have enough tension?

Is my story believable?

Is there enough at stake in my story?

Do my  subplots serve the story?

Character editing

Character editing is where you examine the arcs of your main characters and the effectiveness of your side characters.

Character editing questions

Does my hero have clear goals and believable motivations?

Does my hero have a complete and compelling backstory?

Is my hero unique and complex?

Does my hero transform?

Do all my side characters and villain serve a purpose?

World

World editing is where you examine the world of your story to make sure its immersive and enjoyable for your readers.

World editing questions?

Is the world of my story fleshed out?

Is the world of my story immersive?

Have I explained what readers need to know to understand the world?

While you are story editing, try to remain focused on big picture questions like the ones previously listed. Focus on your use of language in a separate stage.

Line Editing

Line Editing looks at the strength of your language

Once your story is mostly set, its time to focus on your use of language to convey that story. During line editing, your job is to make sure your word choice and sentence structure enable your readers to engage.

Dialogue

Different than structure, plot looks at the progression of events throughout your story.

Dialogue Questions

Is my dialogue compelling?

Am I using too many dialogue tags?

Am I using non-standard dialogue tags?

Am I over-using adverbs?

Is my dialogue unrealistic because its info-dumping, too on-the-nose, or unrealistic?

Do I have any unnecessary or disjointed dialogue?

Readability Questions

Is my work written at any appropriate readability level?

Have I overused passive voice constructions?

Are my sentences sticky?

Do I have too many long sentences in a row?

Do I have repetitive sentence structure?

Am I overusing purple prose?

Word Choice Questions

Do I have any overused words?

Do I have any echoes or repeats?

Do I have any redundant phrases?

Am I using cliches that are ineffective?

Do I use too may vague or unspecified words?

Am I using words my readers will understand?

It can be really useful to undertake line editing with the support of software like ProWritingAid because we’re often not aware of our own baf writing habits.

Final Thoughts

Questions?