The Self-Editing Process for Fiction Writers — And Why It’s Important
You’ve written your book, but don’t hit publish just yet. You still need to EDIT it! That’s where self-editing comes in.
This video goes over the self-editing steps so you’ll know exactly what comes after you type “The End” on your novel — and why you can’t skip this all-important step!
SUMMARY
Why self-edit your book?
Self-editing allows you to polish your book until it shines, presenting your best book possible. This gives your book the best chance at those glowing five-star reviews we all want, too!
The Self-Editing Process
The “Clean” First Draft
If you can’t help yourself from doing a deep dive into editing while you’re drafting, SKIP THIS STEP. But if you’re like me and this works for you, do it! Basically, the next time you start a writing session, reread what you wrote in your previous session. You can tweak a few things that your subconscious worked on since you wrote it, maybe clean it up a bit, but don’t get stuck in the details here. I just do a quick readthrough and change a few things so they hit a little more like I intended. But I can’t stress this enough: DON’T SPEND TOO MUCH TIME HERE. Tweak a few things, then move on.
Developmental Edits
Developmental edits may involve several drafts, but don’t let that overwhelm you. Once you’ve stepped away from your manuscript after typing “The End,” do a thorough readthrough, and use that time to indicate which developmental issues you’ll need to address! Some ideas: plot issues/holes, foreshadowing, continuity, timeline, consistency, description, point of view (on a large scale), pacing, theme, and if you’re an overwriter, what I affectionally refer to as “The Cut.” In this last one, you’ll look for redundancies, adjust the pacing to avoid reader boredom, make sure you have the right number of subplots and characters, and clean up your writing for succinctness.
Content Editing
I’m a big fan of at least attempting do a content edit on your book! Why? Because the more you can get done on your own manuscript, the better it will ultimately be. I absolutely recommend hiring an editor to do this as well, but going through it yourself first will help the editor better understand what you’re trying to say — and it might ultimately save you some money on their services! Look for: clarity, readability, unnecessary words, action verbs, adverbs, proper tenses, point of view (on a smaller scale), repeating words, and reader fatigue.
Copyediting
As with copyediting, try it yourself first, then hire a professional editor to clean it up further! In copyediting, you’ll edit for: grammatical errors, typos, comma usage, punctuation, spelling, dangling modifiers, and unintentional fragments (or too many!).
Proofreading
My best advice for proofreading is to read it aloud, like a robot (like-ev-ery-sin-gle-syl-la-ble). You’ll more easily catch missing words this way! Also, read each contraction as if they were the full words they are substituting. For example, read “you’re” as “you are” or “it’s” as “it is.” This is a great way to make sure you’re using the correct form of the word.
Next Steps
After you’ve finished the self-editing process, celebrate! Then hire a professional editor, prep your book for publishing, and hit PUBLISH to release your book into the world!
Bonus: How to get and stay on track with your editing
Staying on track with your self-editing can be tricky, especially if it feels painful. My best advice is to work on it with friends! This helps you stay accountable and actually get your editing done!
My Edit with an Editor Membership is perfect for this! We hold several sprint sessions weekly, where we discuss what we’re working on and set aside dedicated time during each session to actually get editing done!
If you want to edit in a community so editing doesn’t feel so excruciating any more, this membership is for you!
If you’re not ready to commit to a membership yet, that’s okay! Just be sure to get a plan together for getting your editing done, then commit to the plan. (This blog post I wrote about putting a writing plan together works for editing, too!)
USEFUL TOOLS FOR SELF-EDITING (MENTIONED IN THE VIDEO)
Download the FREE Ten Questions for Prospective Editors Ebook: https://members.melissafrey.com/courses/ten-questions-for-editors-ebook
Join the Edit with an Editor Membership:
https://members.melissafrey.com/bundles/membership-bundle