Hi,
I was wondering if anyone has any advice or guidelines on self-editing a story. I don't mean it as a substitute for having it read and critiqued by someone else, just as a step in the whole process.
What I usually do after writing the first draft, is put it away for a while to gain some perspective. What are your methods?
Also, do you write the first draft and then edit it, or do you edit the work while writing? I usually do the latter, which can be quite problematic sometimes, as I find it very time-consuming and I tend to focus too much on polishing certain fragments and get distracted from finishing the story...
Also check out Simon P.Clark's blogs as they are really informative.
Hi Anna It really comes down to personal preference in the end, we all have our ways of approaching editing. Below is the way I approach it, but you can have a look above at the editorial services above for pointers.
Personally after a first draft I put the book away for six months, don't look at it, think about it ect. Then go back through it and read it as if it were somebody else work. At this stage you are editing the plot, looking for inconsistencies or anything that jumps out at you as being wrong.
Then put it away again for a few weeks or so, go on holiday, relax.
Then begin with the pace and structure, edit the characters and really scrutinize your use of wording. Take out anything that has not earned its place. Look out for cairless mistakes and little bits of phrasing that have gone amiss.
After the second edit comes the really horrid one. Go through the book line by line and check your grammar and spelling.
I do edit as I go, but I find that even if I do that I still have to re-edit once the book is finished. and you will find that you think you are done and then you will get feedback that points out 101 things you have missed.
If your anything like me you will cultivate a real love hate relationship with editing, I love it but some days are a struggle. Just remember how proud you will be when you can give somebody a polished bit of writing that came straight from you!
Sophie