This is Part Two of a three-part series of what I learned from writing my first novel. Click here to read Part One: The First Draft.
“Edit and Revise” is a glib name for the editing phase of the writing process, and really doesn’t do it justice. As you’ll see, this phase should really be called something more like “Edit, edit, research, storyboard, edit, edit, cry, edit…” The order of those words will be different for each writer. Here’s what worked well for me.
Step 5: Use a storyboard to make sure the plot hangs together
Congratulations: you’re done your first draft! If you’re like me, it’s probably terrible and riddled with plot holes. Not to worry – there are tools you can use to fill in the blanks.
I’ve never been very good at outlining in advance. I figure out the story as I write. But because of the length and complexity of my novel, I got to the point where I needed to visualize the entire story in a simple way to figure out what was working and what wasn’t. That’s called storyboarding.
To do this, I used a couple different methods: excel files with cells describing each chapter; and flashcards, labelled by chapter and stuck to a whiteboard so I could move them around. I’ve heard there’s software out there that can do this as well.
Whatever method you use, having a holistic snapshot to play with will help you work out the kinks and fill in the gaps of your plot much more efficiently than scrolling through a word document tens of thousands of words long.
Step 6: Respect the power of research
This especially applies in my genre of choice, science fiction. But regardless of what kind of story you’re writing, it’s likely at some point in the process, you’re going to have to do some research. Research adds depth and credibility to your story.
In my case, I was writing about a crew of humans who have returned from Mars to Earth five-hundred years in the future. I did some research up front and also came in with some pre-existing knowledge, given my background and desire to write this story in the first place. I expected research to be part of the process. It’s sci-fi, after all; and I knew any potential audience would hold me to certain standards of scientific credibility.
What I didn’t expect was the continuous, iterative nature of the research I needed to do, above and beyond the actual plot of my story. Despite the fact that none of my story takes place in space or on Mars, I found I needed a spaceship design. I needed to know who would make up a spaceflight crew from Mars. I needed to understand how people would realistically live on Mars – everything from their social structure, to what they’d eat, to how they would dispose of dead bodies.
I used this research not to describe things actually happening in my story, but rather, to give my characters the necessary richness of experience to react to their newfound Earth setting in a compelling, three-dimensional way.
The amount of research you will have to do will vary a lot depending on the type of novel you are writing. But I found research to be a source of inspiration and believe my story is much better because of it.
Step 7: Fake it until you make it
As important as research is, conversely, don’t rely on it too much. Your story is your own and you are allowed to be creative, even in sci-fi. You also won’t be able to research everything; you will have to use your imagination to fill in some gaps. Use your discretion to figure out where the boundary lies between maintaining credibility within the rules of the world you’ve created and having the flexibility to tell the story you need to tell.
That’s the power of fiction: it can and should feel real, despite the fact we all know it’s made up.
Step 8: Trick your brain while you edit
Once you have a really completed, well-researched first draft with all the significant plot holes addressed, it’s time to go back and edit. Edit, edit, edit. Edit.
This, in my experience, is by far the longest part of the writing process; and it never really seems to be done. By the time you are finished editing, you will be so sick of reading your work that you literally won’t be able to read it any more. I mean it. Your eyes will fly right past the individual words, and you won’t be capable of reading your story as a reader would. Or worse, as a prospective agent or publisher.
That’s why you need to trick your brain. After my second or third pass at my story, to really read it, I had to do things like play with fonts, read it on different screens (like my phone), and, best of all, print it out and edit by hand (assuming you typed the early drafts). Sometimes, I would even read chapters out loud.
Changing the way my brainwaves received the words forced me to focus on each one and really see them when I’d go back and edit, even after the fifth, sixth, eleventh, fiftieth, zillionth time. You’re still going to miss stuff, but I promise you, this method will help you catch a lot more than you would otherwise.
Step 9: Don’t get too attached to your words; make an “extras” document
After editing and filling in your early drafts, you will end up with a much longer, fleshed-out piece. Now comes the irony: time to cut it all back again, because it’s grown out of control.
Like a hedge that needs trimming or a lawn that needs mowing, you need to cut, cut, cut. Stephen King is a big champion of this method. To make it good, you need to cut your story back to its very essence, until what remains is only what really matters, and what your readers will find interesting enough to read on.
The problem is that you will be attached to what you wrote. You spent blood, sweat, and tears on it by this point, after all! You won’t be able to be objective about the cutting process.
Not to worry, I figured out a solution to this, and I’ve heard of others doing something similar: make a separate document that you have open at the same time you’re editing. Call it “[Working Title] Extras”. Brutally cut up your piece and paste it into this “Extras” file. That way you still have it later if you decide you need it after all!
…But you probably won’t. This reality is, this is just a way to ease the pain and trick yourself into thinking it isn’t all going in the garbage.
To give you an idea of my experience: while my novel is complete at 103,000 words (and it still hasn’t even been professionally edited!), the longest it ever got was over 120,000 words; and I probably penned closer to 140,000 – 150,000 words in total over the course of working on it if I add up all my “extras” files. I’ve come to accept that’s just all part of the process of getting a quality end-product.
…and that’s a wrap on Part Two: Edit & Revise! Next week, I’ll write the third and final part of this series: Getting Feedback.
Comments