CREATIVE WRITING
Editing without tears
You’ve drafted a novel! Brilliant! But it’s a long way from being ready for a reader. Author James McCreet provides a systematic way to edit a finished novel or an early draft
James McCreet
Editing is one of those ‘paraliterary’ skills (along with research and planning) that many writers don’t like because it’s not as fun or creative as the actual writing. It can feel like work. Unfortunately, publishable books are not written without the full range of paraliterary skills being employed. The writing stage is when all of your creativity flows. The editing stage makes the creativity readable by imposing order. Moreover, solid editing techniques will help you overcome doubts about whether your book is good enough for publication – or merely whether it is any good.
Structure
If, like me, you planned your novel in advance, it will already have a workable structure. That’s to say, it will have a clear beginning, middle and end. The reader journey will be consistent and there will be clear narrative threads that proceed uninterruptedly throughout. In this case, serious editing is barely necessary.
If, however, you made the novel up as you went along or worked in multiple drafts, it’s highly likely the structure is ragged and inconsistent. How to fix that?