10 Tips for Editing Fiction

I’ve written children’s picture books, and I’m in awe of authors who can create a much longer book. Many of us have stories to tell, but very few writers have the time and dedication to make their dream a reality. Producing a book takes real discipline. It’s a labour of love, but it also needs to sell.

Editing your book well is vitally important. It’s crucial to identify little inconsistencies or just to tighten up what you’ve written and make it better. Grammar and punctuation, used in the right way, can add weight to your story and make it flow in a way that it takes readers on the journey you intend.

During the editing process a book really takes shape. The first draft really is just that, your ideas and characters finding their way onto the page, but they need to be worked on until your vision is a reality. It’s like painting a picture. Those first sketches and brushstrokes can be rough, but they can be refined until what you’ve created is perfect.

Here are some useful tips:

1. Be objective Stand back and take an objective look. Take some time out so that you can look at your work with a critical eye – or better still, get an editor to do it for you.

2. Know the whole story Read it slowly all the way through, so that you can look at your story as a whole. Does it do what you wanted it to do? Does it take your readers where you wanted them to go?

3. Engage, engage, engage… What is your genre, but who are you writing your book for? Will it engage them? Will they be gripped throughout? Will they be taken on the right emotional journey? Remember your book needs to sell.

4. Get the bones right Undertake a structural edit (one that looks at the big picture). Look at your story and characters, your narrative, perspective and pace. If you see little mistakes with spelling or punctuation, correct them as you go, but make sure that the bones of your book are right.

5. Does your story flow Look at the arc of your story, do you need to add any scenes or address gaps? It doesn’t always need to flow in chronological order, but if you’re moving back and forward on a timeline, make sure it’s not confusing and that you keep the right pace for your readers.

6. Believeable characters Are your characters believable? They need to be active and real to your reader and are there enough, or too many to carry your story? Who’s telling your story and do they carry your reader with them in a believable way?

7. Painting a picture Think about the atmosphere of your story – you can draw on all your reader’s senses with your descriptions. Have you gone far enough, or have you gone too far? It’s about creating an emotional experience for your reader, and then you can sketch in your action and dialogue.

8. The technical bit Edit your story line by line. This sounds painstaking, but it’s also really satisfying when you see that a different word here or there, or even just changing the order of the words in a sentence makes all the difference.

9. TMI? Maybe there’s too much information in one sentence or paragraph. Maybe you need to let your ideas stand out more by breaking them up? Look for repetition, cliches, too many adverbs, similes or too much dialogue.

10. Read it aloud Reading aloud helps. Imagine your book being read on Audible, would you keep listening? Is there any irrelevant detail that just doesn’t serve the purpose of your story? Stick with it!

Finally

Editing is done in stages. The process takes a while, and that’s ok. Each draft will be better than the last, and when you feel your manuscript is as good as you can make it, then it’s time to put it out there. And if you need a fresh pair of eyes before you take the plunge, I’d be delighted to help!