Progress on my novel was very slow. I admitted to a friend of mine that I was going over the text again and again, until I thought it was perfect. She advised me to stop editing as I wrote, and leave it until I had finished my first draft.
It worked
for me, I’ve since finished my first draft, but now comes the tricky bit -
editing it!
I’ve found,
from editing other peoples work, that editing can be as simple as changing the
spelling of a single word, or as massive as looking at what is effective, and
what needs reworking.
Two
processes are used in editing:
1. Macro
Editing:
Is looking
at the whole novel, and deciding where the author, (me, in this case), is
trying to go. Is the structure right? Are the characters credible? Does the
text flow. Does the theme follow the conventions of the genre, to do this you
need to know who the audience is. Is the tone right, is the writing consistent?
2. Micro
Editing:
Is looking
at the text in fine detail. Checking things like punctuation, spelling, and the
language used. Looking at the dialogue and imagery. Is there any repetition.
I needed to
gain some distance from my work so that I could gain a better perspective, so I
printed out what I had written and put it away for a couple of weeks, then I
started to look at it.
I’ve found
that reading the piece out loud before I edit gives me an idea of how it flows.
Some
suggestions I have been given are: I could also try creating inner censors by
imagining my worst enemy or favourite writer reading the piece out. I could
also create a conversation with someone about the piece while I’m editing it,
or find a reader, or readers to read the unedited piece, the reader could then
make suggestions or find errors I have missed. I am going to let friends and
some family members read it. I have also been told that editing the piece away
from where it was written may give me a different insight on the piece.
Editing the
novel may be hard work, but it will be worth it in the end.
How have you
found the editing process?
