Breaking Down My Editing Process

There are many steps I go through in order to prepare my books for publication. In today's post, I will provide a look into my editing process, as well as the purpose behind each step.

Mid-Writing Edit
In last week's post, I wrote about how I try not to edit as I write. This is still true. In order for me to keep the flow going, I do my best to edit as little as possible, so the story has a chance to reach the page. However, I also know myself and my writing well enough to know that one simple draft is not enough. So, as I write, I constantly make notes of where I'm going and what is missing. If I feel particularly inspired by a scene coming up, I write a note about what I need to come back and fill in later. If I feel there's an inconsistency, I make a note to come back and check it out. The purpose is to write in a reminder so that, when I come back to the story once the draft is finished, I can touch it up, fill in any blanks, address major inconsistencies or questions I had. This is particularly helpful for me when I need to look at timeline issues within my stories.

Once the draft is complete, I go back to read and address each of those notes. They're easy to find within my draft, because I write them in ALL CAPS. I write in scenes that were missing or underdeveloped, I build more character backstory, I address and double check my timeline, and sometimes, I fix some sentences that I wasn't sure how to write as I was drafting. 

Developmental Edit
Once I've gone through and adjusted my story according to all the notes I made along the way, it's time for a developmental edit. This edit is meant to address plot, character development and motivation, world building, and other story-wide things like these. When suggestions and comments have been made regarding these areas, I begin my developmental re-write.

My developmental re-write looks like this: I print out the manuscript with all edits included, then I open a new document and literally type the story over again, implementing feedback as I go. I find this way of completing my developmental edit much easier than trying to fix the story by finding the areas that need work and adjusting them within my existing manuscript. This process is much more gratifying to me, as well, because I can compare my initial draft to my rewritten draft. It's always cool to see how far the story has come. 

Quick Edit
When my developmental re-write has been completed, I do a quick scan through the document to fix any glaring errors I can see, and address any new notes that have come up during that developmental re-write process. The purpose for this edit is to quickly clean up the document before I send it out to beta readers. 

Beta Read 
For my beta reading process, I typically find five to ten people who can read the manuscript within a given time frame. I find that three weeks to a month works best for a novel. Any longer than that, and most readers don't send any feedback in. When I send out the document, I also send a list of questions I would like them to think about and answer as they read. I'll post a full list of questions I like to ask my beta readers in an upcoming post, but they usually have to do with character development, story flow (particularly any areas that my readers felt needed more or less page time), and whether the story was believable. 

When I receive the feedback from my beta readers, I get to work reading through their responses and following up with clarifying questions as needed. Then, I begin adjusting the story again, implementing the suggestions and addressing the questions my beta readers sent in.

Major Line Edit
Once I've implemented my beta readers' feedback, I go in and do a line edit. Many authors line edit prior to sending their manuscript out to their beta readers. However, I've found that I end up doing an extra line edit of the whole manuscript after putting in my beta reader edits, so waiting until afterward just streamlines my process a bit.

The purpose of my line edit is to go in and adjust grammar, syntax, and sentence-level or paragraph-level flow. In this edit, I use a pen and markup as I go. I watch to ensure I vary my sentence length. I adjust my sentence structure. I change out, add, or remove adjectives and adverbs. I make my verbs active rather than passive. I check my punctuation and spelling, and so on. Then, I go through and put the edits into my document. 

Manuscript Formatting
When I feel I've got a pretty well developed, well edited story, I start my manuscript formatting. I choose my page size, margin size, font, spacing, and page numbers. I edit my chapter headings and add the additional pages that are not directly connected to the story: I update my About The Author page. I write my copyright page, my dedication page, and add in any other additional content. When I have my document how I want it, then I upload my manuscript for publishing, but there's one more step before it's really ready. 

Proofread and Final General Edit
The final step I go through in my editing process is proofreading. I order a proof copy of my book with a finished cover. When my book arrives, I go through it twice. The first time I go through the book, I'm looking for formatting adjustments I need to make. Usually, it's minor things, like changing the font size, or adjusting margins or page bleed, or tweaking my chapter headings. 

The second time I go through the book, I do one last read through. This final read allows me to catch errors that have slipped through the cracks, and it gives me an opportunity to look at the story from a "reader's" perspective to see if anything sticks out to me with the story that will need to be changed. I especially like to wait to do this last piece until I can actually hold a physical copy of the book in my hands, because I find it helps me get into a different headspace - that of a reader. This helps a ton!

Check back next week for more about the questions I ask my beta readers! Until then, thanks for reading! Have a wonderful week!