National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) has ended, and there are a lot of people out there with finished first drafts of books.
First off, congratulations! Writing is a long, arduous process, and finishing the first draft is an important first step. But now you might be wondering, what do I do next?
Well friend, it’s time to start the torturous process known as editing.
During the last stream, we did the second in a three-part series about what to do once you’ve finished the first draft of your book: “So You’ve Written A Book… Now What?”
This time we concentrated on one of the hardest parts of writing: editing.
You can watch the video of the exercise here,
or just scroll down to read it.
It can be helpful to break down editing into three different levels. And when you do your own editing, make sure you finish each level by checking off each item before you move onto the next one.
Bomb Level Editing
□ Set the scene: Make sure you give the reader the who/what/when/where at the beginning of the story and every time one of them changes (ie: you move to a new setting, a new character appears, etc.)□ Set the tone: Make sure we know how the character feels, and how we’re supposed to feel. (ie: If your character is nervous on their first day or school, are we supposed to feel nervous with them, or think they’re being silly?)
□ Hook the reader: Ask yourself what is making the reader want to read this section? Conflict? Mystery? Stakes? Make sure something is there to grab us from page one and keeps us hooked all the way to the end.
Machete Level Editing
□ Pacing: Make sure your book reads like a book. Is it too fast or too slow?If it’s too fast, then show don’t tell. Give us more senses/details to immerse in your world. (ie: instead of telling us “it was hot,” SHOW us that it was hot; instead of telling us “they fought,” SHOW us how they fought)
If it’s too slow, then simplify. Cut out unnecessary details. You’ll feel like you’re losing a lot, but it’s still the same story, just less fatty. (ie: instead of giving us a minute-by-minute account of the day in the life of your character, cut it and start when something interesting happens)
Scalpel Level Editing
□ Put every word on trial. Read it out loud and make EVERY word justify their existence. Cut every single word you don’t absolutely need, and turn boring words into more fun/interesting ones.FIRST DRAFT
Tom sat himself down on the top of the hard, brown, wooden chair and then sighed out loud. He rubbed his hands up and down on his face, then he stopped, slowly brought them down by his side, and let them hang there as he spoke in a quiet, fearful whisper. “The Macaroni King is coming.”SECOND DRAFT (after cutting unnecessary words)
Tom sat on the chair and sighed. He rubbed his his face, then spoke in a fearful whisper. “The Macaroni King is coming.”THIRD DRAFT (after making the boring words more interesting)
Tom collapsed into the chair. He rubbed his his eyes bleary with exhaustion. A trembling whisper escaped his lips. “The Macaroni King is coming.”Overall, EACH STEP on the list should take you AT LEAST 1 day per 1,000 words.
That means if you wrote a 90,000 word book, it should take you AT LEAST 1 month to go through 1 of them, and 3 months to go through all 3 of them.
You may be able to WRITE a book in a month, but EDITING one takes much longer!
After going over the checklist, we then took the beginning of the story we started last time and ran it through all of the levels.
Here’s what we started with:
Barbara stopped and gazed into space.
Oh no. It was happening.
She couldn’t help thinking about Steve again. She tried not too. Desperate to avoid the thoughts that could not be, no – would not be – held back.
But like dozens of unstoppable loyal followers they came creeping forward until they filled her brain.
Steve’s smile shined like tin foil, as impressive as a cave network. Barbara was helplessly but willingly absorbed.
Steve’s eyes were like cricket balls. If you rolled them they would go quite far.
Steve’s legs were like a radio tower. Straight and tight.
Steve’s chest was like a president of a big company. Powerful and impossible to ignore.
How could Barbara not be helpless in the face of that?
Barbara snapped out of it. But the thoughts of Steve would be back. Would she be able to resist next time?
Hmm, not very good. Here’s what it looked like after we edited it with all three steps:
Barbara was being pushed by her friend to her execution.
Next to her on the couch, Tammy nudged her and whispered. “Come on, Barb. Say something. You’re making things awkward.”
Barbara had dreamed about this day forever. Tammy had worked her magic to get Reggie to invite them over to his house, along with his friend Steve. But now that Barbara was actually here, she didn’t know how to face him.
The four of them were sitting in the basement of Reggie’s house, watching whatever was on TV. The finale of The Bachelor. Keeping Up with the Kardashians that was somehow still on the air. Reruns of COPS. Barbara and Tammy sat together, while Reggie slouched on the stained carpet flipping through channels. And then there was Steve, sitting in the cushioned chair.
Oh, Steve.
His gold-spun hair, smooth like silk between her fingers in every fantasy. His lean body that she pined over as she walked home past the track field every day. And now, sitting here in Reggie’s basement, she was close enough to hear his breath as she desperately tried not to stare at him, imagining the rise and fall of his chiseled chest.
Imagining it was helpful because it reminded Barbara to breathe herself.
“Ugh, I hate this show,” Reggie groaned. The drunken, fleeing suspect on the screen stumbled and was promptly dog-piled by a veritable army of pursuing officers.
Steve looked down at him, confused. “Why? I think it’s hilarious.”
“The only thing that’s hilarious is our broken criminal justice system,” Reggie said. “Police waste their time on dumb little joke-crimes like pot or stealing a shirt, when real scumbag criminals are getting away with actual crimes every goddamn day.”
“If only you were in charge,” Steve said with a chuckle. “I’m sure you’d make it so only the real bad guys were in jail.”
“Yeah, or dead,” Reggie mumbled.
Steve groaned and shot Barbara a smile, immediately setting her heart pounding like she’d been stabbed. She opened her mouth to speak, but her voice caught in her throat, ending up as a staticy gurgle.
“Hey Reggie!” Tammy said, slamming her hand on Barbara’s thigh and ending her poor frog imitation. “Speaking of pizza, I’m getting kind of hungry. You got any food down here?”
Reggie looked over from the ground and raised a confused eyebrow. “Uh, I can make some nachos or something. How about that?”
Barbara didn’t know what to say. Would it be rude to say no? Or would it be rude to refuse to eat Reggie’s food? And what would Steve think? Did he like nachos? Maybe she should wait for him to speak up first.
“That’d be great,” Tammy said after an uncomfortable silence. “Thanks. I’ll help you.”
Reggie narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think I need any help just to make nachos.”
Tammy clenched her teeth. “Well then maybe you can show me how to make nachos then,” she said desperately. “I really want to know. Let’s go.”
Reggie shrugged, stood up, and walked away to the kitchen. Tammy immediately followed after him, strutted past Barbara with a wink, and disappeared. It was just Steve and Barbara now.
Well, Steve, Barbara, and her crippling anxiety.
BANG!
If you haven’t checked out the video, then definitely take a look! You can see the steps that took us from our horrible first draft to our pretty-darn-good latest draft. If you’re having trouble editing your own work, then this could be a good place to start.
If you want to join us and help write a story by trolling in chat, or share your own writing for feedback, then we’d love to have you. We stream on Twitch every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 7:30pm-10:30pm (U.S. Eastern Standard Time).
And you missed the stream, you can still watch them on the YouTube channel or watch the full stream reruns.
Hope to see you next time, friend!
Scott Wilson is the author of the novel Metl: The ANGEL Weapon,
forthcoming March 2019.
Featured image: Pakutaso