You’ve written a book, now what?
Editing!
When you have finished writing your book you will have what is known as the first draft - this is the make it exist stage of the process. To make it really shine and sparkle, there’s several steps to go through.
The first step is to rest. Give yourself the rest of the day to relax and do other tasks, and get a good night’s rest. This will help you to disengage writing mode and shift into editing mode.
The second step is to look at your manuscript and read it. Thoroughly. Twice (at least). You can make notes as you go, but don’t be consumed by making them. You are probably already incredibly familiar with your story at this point, but this gives you a chance to learn about your narrative voice and what works for you.
The third step is to act on your notes, make the changes you noticed in the first few reads.
Step four is to repeat the first three steps. Until you’re happy with it.
You can request an editor’s help at any point of your process for any specific help.
Manuscript evaluation (including partial) is reading for readability, engagement, and flow.
Developmental editing is searching for plot points and how they line up. This is the big picture edit.
Line editing is looking at the details such as sentence structure and flow, the rhythm of paragraphs, and the beats of dialogue.
Proofreading is where the tiny details are usually spotted - spelling errors, missing apostrophes, a semicolon is better than a colon here, etc.
Many books that you see published go through many drafts, many edits, sometimes even whole revisions. Don’t be scared to change anything!
Editors give suggestions on changes to make, it is down to the author to act upon those suggestions. Remember, this is your book.
