The Editing Process: 4 Top Tips

 2015 is Authorpreneur Almanac year. 

Join me in my 365 Adventures in Writing and Entrepreneurship...

This week, I finished the first draft of part 1 of my third book, Gabriel's Game.

This story is in two parts, written as two novella's.

Book 1: The White Queen

Book 2: The Black Knight


I saw an interesting reference recently that sums up the drafting process:

The first draft is filling the bucket with sand, you only have a sandcastle when you've tipped it out and molded it.

Getting your story out of your head and onto the page is just the start. Next comes the lengthy and sometimes traumatic editing process.

For me, there are four key stages in the process of going from first draft to something publishable. I've plotted them out on a flow diagram below:

1) 1st Draft and 2nd Draft. On the image, I show a double headed arrow because I edit as I go. I'm not one of those writers who writes without making corrections as they go along, I've tried it, it doesn't work for me, I get distracted by obvious typos and spelling mistakes.  

2) Word-Loss-Edit. At this stage, I go through and tighten the narrative. Here are a couple of helpful links that I've used when going through this stage:

I found this link on Pinterst. In it Justin McLachlan has a list of six things to look out for in your writing:http://www.justinmclachlan.com/804/common-writing-mistakes/

I also found this link on Pinterest but I dip regularly into Litreactor.com. This article suggests eight words to seek and destroy and often they are words that, once removed, take several other unnecessary words with them: http://litreactor.com/columns/8-words-to-seek-and-destroy-in-your-writing

I have a copy of The Word Loss Diet  to keep handy as I edit Gabriel's Game: Part 1, The White Queen.



 These are the words I 'find' in my manuscript and delete or replace them:

• That
• Really
• Very
• Suddenly
• Words that end 'ly' (blitz those pesky adverbs)
• Then
• Is, am, was, were (use powerful verbs and fewer words instead)
• Started
• Like
• Smile (make each 'smile' count)

 
3)  Testing Cycle. At this stage I test my writing on a pool of eager Beta Readers. These are people I know who have enjoyed my books and frequently ask me when the next one is out. People who's views I trust, who are also avid readers and often grammar geeks. In this cycle various reads and re-reads take place and I filter the feedback and complete any appropriate re-writes

4) Fourth Draft. At this point I am confident that the book is ready to be seen by professionals. I'll work with editors to proof read and look at structural edits and complete final checks and edits

In his fantastic book On Writing, Stephen King recommends cutting your word count by 10%, even when you think you've finished.

Here are my Top 4 Editing Tips:

1) Less is more when it comes to word count. The skill of a good writer is to say a lot with very few words, never use three words when one will do. Tighten your writing by keeping it active and punchy.

2) Look for useful tips and content online. A crucial part of developing your craft as a writer is to identify the common mistakes you make and find ways to rectify them. I collect useful links for future reference using Pinterest

3) Take your time but don't aim for perfection. No one writes a perfect first draft, even the professionals who've been doing it for years. Take your time to produce a good quality book before you publish it. I made the mistake of rushing my first book, The Bronze Box and getting some bad reviews. I sought professional help with my second book, Solomon's Secrets and it made all the difference.

 

That said, it will never be perfect, because perfection is a fallacy.  Yes, you'll look back on it in years to come as your craft improves and cringe at your early work. It's OK, we all do it, but don't let that put you off.

There will always be work out there that's worse than yours and there will always be stuff that's better.

All you can do, is create something that's good enough at that point in your life and the only way you'll ever get feedback so you can learn, grow, develop and improve as a writer is to get the independent feedback of real readers who's lives you've touched, even in a small way, by sharing your vision with them.



4) Take Action

• Start a Pinterest board for writing

Here's mine:

Follow Amy Morse's board Writing on Pinterest.

• Follow related boards for new and useful Pins

• Add a Pin It button to your toolbar and Pin useful content.

Excitement, nerves and budget decisions...

I've had a fairly quiet week on the becoming an author front, after my 25 minutes of Wiveliscombe fame last week!

This week for 

Operation Author: 365 Actions to Becoming  A Successful Author

My seven actions have been baby steps and bits and bobs:

Action 1:
I've been making enquiries with several copy editors.

I spoke to Silverwood Books, who I had wanted to publish with but I don't have enough budget to pay for their full editing service, I'm hoping they could still help me in other ways through and I'm trying to arrange a meeting with them.

I met another writer who does copy editing and although I will probably choose someone else, as she specialises in non- fiction, I did make a good connection with another Bristol writer there and will stay in touch with Leah.

I also exchanged lots of emails with a friend of a friend who does copy editing, but again, her specialty is non-fiction. 

I think I might use my friend and fellow writer Jo Reed. She always gives me really useful and constructive critiques at our regular Southville Writers meet up. I'm slightly hesitant though as I'd rather use someone I don't know and I'm also aware that my genre isn't really the kind of thing Jo is interested in.

 
Action 2: 
In the end, I have decided to get a copy edit of the first 10,000 words and a publishing report from Arc Editorial & Literary Consultancy in Bristol - They've been recommended by several people. 

I sent that off this week and expect to hear back in a couple of weeks. Both excited and nervous about it!
 
Action 3:
A former colleague and fan of my books offered to do a proof read of Solomon's Secrets. I sent the book to her and got it back within a few days. She loved it and did it really quickly. Thanks Marion!

I'm now working through it doing another proof read. Most of the mistakes she noted had already been spotted but there were still some that had been missed. The book has now been proof read by five people, and it just goes to show that however good you think it is, someone will always spot something that others have missed. 

My advice to other writers, get at least 5 other people to proof read your work before contemplating publication. This was a lesson I learned the hard way when I had some bad reviews of my first book The Bronze Box. I have since been through it again and done a second edition.

Action 4:
I ordered a batch of the second edition of The Bronze Box, ready to send out to all those that pledged for it as a reward on the crowdfund.

Action 5:
I published an update on the crowdfund to let everyone know what progress I'm making and what I'm spending the fund on.

Action 6:
I have been away this weekend, visiting my sister in Cornwall. I took lots of postcards and mini manuscripts with me and have distributed a few around while we were out and about.

I could have kicked myself though; we spent the day in Plymouth and I left them at the house. 

My lovely sister, who is an artist and does some great work, is going to continue to do some guerrilla marketing for me. I left some mini manuscripts and postcards with her. 

Her business is Woolly Soup and she makes some really cool and quirky things that she sells in galleries across Cornwall.

Action 7:
I've been trying to hold off from getting too involved in writing the next book; Gabriel's Game, but it's swirling around in my head. 

I've been adding to my Pinterest board for Gabriel's Game with research links. 

As you can see from this screen grab, both Tom Sheridan and Sasha Blake are still my central characters but there will be themes around secret societies and ancient libraries

 
I haven't been able to resist doing some writing this week. 

As I'm sure many writers do, I often write in a note book and type up the ideas later. At that stage I can add details and do some editing. I tend to write in pencil, I find I can write more neatly and quickly. Here's a really raw conversation between Tom and Sasha that will be written into the new book:

I've been writing up a few snapshots and scenes. I'm planning to really knuckle down with the next book later in the year by doing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) again.

On this wet bank holiday Monday, I'm sat in my PJ's with a mug of hot coffee and some 80's-tastic music playing. Seems like a perfect day to get on with some more writing...