Truths About Editing Your Novel
It's time for the quick and dirty truth about editing! Editing is a messy thing, it's made many a writer throw up their hands in frustration, and it's a necessary evil. You can choose which way you want to edit, and how long it takes, but there are truths you need to acknowledge.
You need to edit your work, possibly more than once. Your sweet spot is probably three to four times. Ernest Hemingway said, “The first draft to anything is crap.” Fiction needs work after the first draft. You might need to remove scenes or add more power to your dialogue. It doesn't matter who you are and what you wrote, you need to begin novel editing or hire someone else to do the job.
Many writers are fond of saying, “My mother loved it.” Your mother is not your editor. You need to resign yourself to the fact you may have to edit more than once, and might need to hire a professional in fiction editing. It's the best decision you could make for your work.
The beauty of writing is you are free to edit however you like. You may choose to edit yourself or hire out, finding a professional book editing company. One way to edit is by reading aloud to yourself or a friend. Hearing the words and dialogue spoken aloud does wonders for your perspective. You can pinpoint areas where the flow is interrupted, or where dialogue suffers from too many words. You may even realize two of your character's names are too similar and this might be confusing. Reading aloud can help pinpoint continuity errors and you can gauge the strength of the story by your friend's reaction as well.
Do you think you can edit a novel in a day? You shouldn't. It's not possible. Of course, it's entirely possible to perform a simple edit in a day, but a well-done thorough edit? No. Not even a professional who offers novel editing services can edit well in a day. You need a break period away from your novel. It may be a few weeks or even months. You need to distance yourself if you're editing your own work.
Editing will add power and beauty to your work. Your protagonist may decide to solve the crime a different way, or have a speech that softens them for the reader. Editing lets you jump into this messy world of your creation and play with everything you've written. It may take a lot of time, but you might even find yourself enjoying everything editing has to offer. The only way to find out whether you want to edit yourself or let a professional do it is to jump in!
You need to edit your work, possibly more than once. Your sweet spot is probably three to four times. Ernest Hemingway said, “The first draft to anything is crap.” Fiction needs work after the first draft. You might need to remove scenes or add more power to your dialogue. It doesn't matter who you are and what you wrote, you need to begin novel editing or hire someone else to do the job.
Many writers are fond of saying, “My mother loved it.” Your mother is not your editor. You need to resign yourself to the fact you may have to edit more than once, and might need to hire a professional in fiction editing. It's the best decision you could make for your work.
The beauty of writing is you are free to edit however you like. You may choose to edit yourself or hire out, finding a professional book editing company. One way to edit is by reading aloud to yourself or a friend. Hearing the words and dialogue spoken aloud does wonders for your perspective. You can pinpoint areas where the flow is interrupted, or where dialogue suffers from too many words. You may even realize two of your character's names are too similar and this might be confusing. Reading aloud can help pinpoint continuity errors and you can gauge the strength of the story by your friend's reaction as well.
Do you think you can edit a novel in a day? You shouldn't. It's not possible. Of course, it's entirely possible to perform a simple edit in a day, but a well-done thorough edit? No. Not even a professional who offers novel editing services can edit well in a day. You need a break period away from your novel. It may be a few weeks or even months. You need to distance yourself if you're editing your own work.
Editing will add power and beauty to your work. Your protagonist may decide to solve the crime a different way, or have a speech that softens them for the reader. Editing lets you jump into this messy world of your creation and play with everything you've written. It may take a lot of time, but you might even find yourself enjoying everything editing has to offer. The only way to find out whether you want to edit yourself or let a professional do it is to jump in!