Thursday, February 15, 2024

Editing Mode

AJ Niblock

February 15

It's that time of year again for me... Time to edit an entire novel. This is my least favorite part of the writing process. I do send my books to a professional editor too, but I spend a lot of time working through them first and then send them out. I would never ask someone to read the first or even the second draft of my novels.

So, because this is my least favorite part of the writing process, I've been procrastinating. I am going to get started soon! (That was me trying to convince myself!)

My editing process is something like this:

After the first draft is done, I put it aside for at least a month. (Sometimes longer).
Then I read through it again and make notes on big things. Sometimes I change the order of events or removed whole scenes, or sometimes I have to add something I thought I'd already included but didn't. Anyway, the first read through looks for BIG areas to work on.
Then on the second read through, I go a lot slower. I take it one chapter at a time and deep edit. I work on the chapter, the paragraphs, and even the sentences. For this part of the editing process, I have a checklist. It took me a few novels to develop something that worked for me. I use it every time though and I add to it or change it as necessary. (Not every writing project is the same after all). This checklist takes me MONTHS to work through. And honestly, when I'm in deep editing mode, I only work on it for a couple of hours a day. Any more than that and my head feels like its going to explode.
After I've done my deep edit, I send it to my editor. She generally takes anywhere from a week to a month to get back to me. It depends on the length of the project and whatever else she's doing. Once I have her feedback, I do another round of editing. Usually looking at any major issues she points out.
The last read through is the most important part for me. I print the book and read it out loud. The WHOLE THING! I generally read it out loud to no one (when my daughter was little, she set up some stuffed animals for me to read to). I read it a few chapters at a time to my empty living room. This is the final process for me.

All of these steps take most of the year. It's a lot and it's very slow going.

My advice for those about to tackle a novel length edit is to go slow. It helps. The faster you rush through it, the more mistakes that will be made.

Anyway, just me thinking about editing instead of actually doing it.

Happy reading and writing today and every day!