… Well at least when you’re working on a draft, it is. Now the book is off to beta readers. It’s all an iteration.
This is how editing works for me.
- Bang out a rough draft. I mean BANG it. It’s rough, it’s wild, it sometimes contradicts itself and is a bit of a wild child, but it’s still your child and you love it. My rough drafts are usually mechanical, very action focused without much emotional depth or scenes.
- Let it sit, think about it. During this period, I jot down ideas to change, to fix, to deepen.
- Time to edit! I go through four to six versions of each novel. Each pass I focus on more specific things, like adding emotion, expanding world building, then I go for passes for plot consistency and flow, pacing, any holes that are obvious. And then a final pass for typos. All these passes take me some time.
- Then off to beta readers. I have various ones who will help with plot, or writing voice, or typos. A variety of skills in my editing peeps is always valuable.
- Then back to more polish, fixing the things my betas brought up and I agree with. Sometimes it’s big stuff, sometimes it’s not. It’s important to know what to change and what you feel is done correctly. Trust your gut… but as I say that, I also think that if three or more betas agree with a thing, then I should probably change it.
What is your editing process? How many drafts or passes do you make? Do you use any computer tools to help with the editing? I use word spelling/grammar checker, then Grammarly, then I pay another set of eyes to review the entire thing. I always miss typos, but I do catch many.
Happy writing! And for fans of my stuff, look for a new book this year!
Nat Kennedy Books 