Editing Your First Draft
It’s finally here. The day you’ve been waiting for. The day you’ve been struggling and battling and cursing and weeping towards since opening that blank document so long ago and typing those fateful first words: Chapter 1.
You’ve finished your first draft.
First, take a moment to celebrate this absolutely gargantuan accomplishment. Not everyone possesses the patience, care, and determination necessary to write a book. Set aside any concerns over the quality of your work for now—you can deal with that later—and celebrate the fact that the book reflects a quality of character that is truly remarkable. Allow yourself a moment of satisfaction, if not wild excitement.
You did it. You wrote a book. That is amazing—truly.
Okay, so you’ve given yourself the space to bask in the pleasure of a job done (if it’s your first draft, there’s a good chance it’s not a job well done quite yet, but that doesn’t matter). Now, you’re thinking about reading through your manuscript and fixing any mistakes you made along the way. There are a number of ways you can direct your focus/attention during this process, but before I get into a few of them, I want to make sure I emphasize the value of taking time away from your work altogether.
Seriously, put it away. Go pick up a new hobby. Spend time with people you love. Start another project, if you want to keep writing. Just don’t look at your finished manuscript.
The thing is, you are probably still infatuated by your own material—like the early stages of a romantic relationship. You see all the wonderful parts and are blind to the problems. There’s nothing wrong with this; in fact, it’s a good thing to love your work. But your brain needs some distance from your words so that when you look at them again, you see them not only as the author, but also as a reader. If you can manage this, you might realize that passages you had thought made perfect sense aren’t worded all that clearly. Description that you wrote in the heat of the moment actually comes across as flowery or verbose. Dialogue that you were certain was devastatingly witty is actually pretty contrived. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. A lot of writers will assure you that it is perfectly normal to have a messy first draft. The point is to recognize the parts that need your attention.
So, do yourself a favor and take time away from your work before you dive into edits. I recommend at least a week. (Stephen King recommends at least six weeks in his book, On Writing.)
After you’ve cleared your head, the time will come to edit your work. It can be helpful to use an objective framework to identify a variety of issues that you might not otherwise recognize in your work. (And believe me, there are issues. Books are like people: complicated, miraculous, and never perfect.
In the world of publishing, there are four primary types of editors.
Structural editors look at the big picture. Does the text make sense overall? Are there sections that need to be added, deleted, or rearranged?
Stylistic editors focus on the wording and flow of the text.
Copy editors fix spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.
Proofreaders fix mistakes and typos that were missed by the copy editor and make sure the text is spaced/presented appropriately on the page.
Understanding the different types of editing can provide authors with a series of lenses through which to view their own work after finishing that important first draft.
Start with the lens of structural editing.
Here are three ideas to help you double-check the structure of your book. I am focusing on fiction here, but these strategies can be adjusted for nonfiction as well.
Reorganize: Physically map out the timeline of your story. Do all of your events make sense? Are they in the correct order? Are there any plot holes that need to be filled? At this point, you should also be looking at your character arcs. Do the journeys of your characters make sense? Do they develop in a believable way?
Remove Fluff: Remember we’re still looking at the big picture here (think chapters and paragraphs, not sentences). Are there any segments of the story that are redundant or ineffective? Keep in mind, these might be passages that were incredibly meaningful to you when you first wrote them, but now you see they don’t quite fit the overall tone, pace, or message of your work. If you can’t quite bear to delete these passages outright, you can always paste them into a spare document. You may find a use for them later on.
Rewrite: If you’re like me, you frequently go back and reread your work throughout the writing process. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that familiarity with your own words can make you blind to problem areas. You know exactly what you’re trying to say, but you may not be communicating as clearly as you thought, or perhaps your tone or pacing doesn’t fully make sense. After some time away, you may be able to spot some of these places yourself, but it can be eye-opening to have someone to read your manuscript (a trusted friend or family member perhaps) and direct your attention to any passages that aren’t quite landing. When you notice these passages, do some rewriting.
After you’ve addressed big-picture concerns, put on your stylistic editing hat.
At this point, you want to direct your attention to the rhythm of the words. Zoom in on sentence structure. Are there places where you have too many complex or compound sentences in a row? This can be jarring to read. (If it helps, you could read your work out loud and see how it sounds.) You may also have too many adjectives or adverbs crammed in. If something is killing your rhythm, look for ways to rephrase your thoughts/ideas.
Also double-check the words themselves. Do all your words work together to communicate your intended mood and meaning? Lastly, think about your ideal reader. Will they understand and resonate with your word choice?
Next up we have copy editing. This phase should be enjoyable for my fellow grammar nerds out there! Concentrate on capitals, periods, spelling, and grammar conventions.
Finally, do a proofread—the final check before you send your work to an agent. Fix any typos you find and make sure the formatting matches whatever the agent specifies (font size, spacing, etc.).
And there you have it! I hope this framework helps to give you some guidance as you tackle editing your first draft. Don’t forget to celebrate your progress as you go along. Remember, it is amazing that you wrote a book in the first place. Relish each opportunity you have to make it the best it can be.