In a post on Writer Unboxed, Lynette Burrows offers advice on revising your novel. “How quickly you can get through this process depends on the condition of your first draft, the level of your skills, your ability to analyze your own work, and the time you have available to work these steps,” she says. “With repetition it gets faster and smoother.”
To prepare for your edits, Burrows recommends that you:
- Take a break. “One of the human foibles most of us have is that when we re-read our own work, we often see what we thought we wrote,” she says. Set your story aside for awhile and come back with fresh eyes.
- Get a Fresh Perspective. Burrows recommends asking a few trusted writer friends read the complete story and giving them specific questions to guide their feedback.
- Prepare the Manuscript. Prepare the manuscript so that your reading copy is different than your writing copy. If you write online, print your manuscript. Consider changing the font or font size or color. Find a method that allows you to work with your manuscript with a fresh start.
- Order your Space and Time. Clean off your working space, change your location, and schedule enough time for a thorough revision.
- Gather Supplies. Prepare for your revision. Stock up on index cards, sticky notes, colored pens or markers, and a journal. Have a dictionary and thesaurus handy.
Now that you’re ready to start your edit, Burrows recommends these steps:
- Read as a reader. “You are going to sit down and read your manuscript in as close to one sitting as possible without changing one thing,” Burrows says. This is a difficult step, but try to avoid editing during this first read-through. Burrows uses sticky notes to flag areas she wants to edit.
- Write a review. “Write out what you liked and didn’t like and how the book makes you feel now that you’ve re-read it,” Burrows advises. “Give the book stars, even if it’s only a one star at this point. It’s okay because you’re going to learn how to fix all those things you see as problems right now.”
