How to Write Stories People Will Love

Question 76: How to edit

RipplingReader asks: I just finished a story and am not sure how to start editing. Can you offer some tips?

There are entire courses for editing your own manuscript, but I'll do my best to provide a solid base to start on.

Let It Breathe

When you finish your story, don't immediately scroll to the beginning and start editing. The work is still too fresh, and you're more likely to miss things that need fixing. Let it rest for at least two weeks. You don't have to stop writing. Go work on something else for awhile. I like to give my manuscripts at least a month in between drafts. Lately it's been more like two to three months due to other writing projects and writer's block.

Read It Aloud

This is a great way to gauge the pacing of a chapter. When your brain hears an audio version of your story, it is more likely to notice when things develop too fast, or when dialogue sounds forced. This is especially important for those of you who are speed-readers. Speed reading skips through words and gleans meaning without stopping to "feel" them. I'm a slow reader because I hear words when I read them. This helps me catch typos and repetitive words as well.

If reading aloud isn't feasible because you're never alone, at least mouth the words. Slow down and pronounce the words with your mouth, like you're reading aloud but without sound. In a noisy room, I can usually get away with whispering the text. Even though you may not physically hear the sound with your ears, your brain still will.

Change the Font

This is a weird one, but it works! A lot of professional writers print out their work and edit it that way. A different medium helps you see the work with fresh eyes. I tried that once, and even with a shorter story, it felt like an incredible waste of paper and ink. Then I discovered that, when I copied a chapter from Word (which was in Georgia font) into Wattpad and then read it over, I started catching things I didn't see before!

Our brains have an incredible capacity to acclimatize, to filter out extraneous information in order to process things more efficiently. We don't want this when we're trying to edit, so we have to do what we can to make it stop filtering things out. Changing the font tricks the brain into thinking this is something new because it looks different from before.

Specify What You Are Fixing

Editing requires multiple passes. You start with high-level issues like plot and characterization, which may require adding or rewriting some sections. No point in streamlining sentences when you'll have to do it again later due to changed content.

When the broad issues have been addressed, you can start on the more granular issues, like pacing. Long-winded descriptions can be cut or more setting details can be added. What you should be editing has been the topic of many of these chapters, so I'm not going to repeat all that. This chapter is more about how.

Line edits should be toward the end of your editing cycle, where you streamline sentences and choose strong verbs and all that. If you do this out of order, it will be wasted effort when things get cut or replaced. Worse, you may not want to cut what needs cutting because you've already put all that work into fixing it up.

Edit In Order

As mentioned previously, we want to address broad, far-reaching issues first, then work our way down in specificity. Here's a general (likely uncomprehensive) list:

HIGH LEVEL ISSUES

Plot holes or inconsistencies

Characters don't seem to have a purpose

Character hasn't completed their arc of development

MEDIUM LEVEL ISSUES

Pacing seems too slow or fast in some places due to too much or too little description

Backstory needs to be added or cut back

Dialogue feels wooden or unnatural

Characters not acting like they should

Lack of tension

LOW LEVEL ISSUES

Sentences are bloated with unnecessary words

Too much telling when it should be showing

Passive sentences

Weak verbs

Typos

Misspelled words and incorrect grammar are the smallest items to fix, yet hugely important. Programs like Word or Open Office (which is free) have spelling and grammar checkers built in. There are also online checkers like Grammarly and Scribens. I wouldn't waste an entire editing pass on just proofreading for spelling and grammar. If you didn't catch them during your first several passes, you're not likely to catch them now. Get external help.

Any editing tips of your own you'd like to share?