Day 245: Editing Pt. 1

Today I'll be delving into the editing process in preparation for editing my first draft, beginning with one of the most popular fantasy authors today, and someone who I think could have very topical advice, Brandon Sanderson. He has a convenient frequently asked questions page on his website where he details his editing process. You can read the whole thing here if you'd like. I won't be restating everything, though I will cover the broad strokes and what I think will work for me. Remember, there's nothing wrong with shamelessly stealing from others as long as they will never notice ... you know, maybe that came out wrong.

His first step is simply to write the book. Easy. My first draft is complete, so I'll go ahead and skip to the next step.

In draft two he says he reads through the whole book, fixing major problems as he goes. Interestingly enough, he says that sometimes during the first draft that he'll change characters' personalities around, and even drop in whole new characters as if they'd been there the whole time. This makes me feel a little better. Apparently editing is going to be a monstrous job even if you're a best selling author with a frankly unfair level of output. I didn't drop any new characters in or drastically change any personalities, so I think I'm ok on that front. I do however have tons of continuity errors, made up words that changed part way through, and unfinished sections that I didn't know how to end without knowing the rest of the book. That last one will take some work to fill in, but it should be fun at least. Looks like I'll be taking Sanderson's second draft process pretty much to the letter. I don't see any other way to do it really. Maybe some other author will have a unique take, but from what I've seen so far, this is everybody's second draft.

Draft three he calls his language draft. He aims to cut down the book by 10%, sharpen prose, and improve the pacing of the novel. I would have thought that pacing would come in draft two, when he makes more sweeping changes, but maybe the language itself is where the key to good pacing lies for him. I'll probably have a half an eye open for pacing in draft two as well. I'd be willing to bet he does too, even if it's just subconsciously. I don't see how trimming the language would help the pacing if your story beats are out of whack.

Draft three is also what he sends to beta readers to collect revision notes. I'll have to find some of those. Then he takes the feedback, creates a big file of revision notes ordered by importance, and reads through the whole thing again to correct any issues. That sounds pretty solid to me too. Heck, maybe I'll just use his whole process.

Finally he takes it into final strokes where the tiniest details are polished to perfection. This will probably require a second set of eyes to be done well. I think at this point is when I'll need a paid editor to go over it, or if I'm lucky, an editor from a publishing house. I'll have to start querying from draft three and on if I ever want to get this thing out there.

This process he detailed seems like a straightforward place to start. It's pretty much how I've been editing all my short stories, minus the beta reading and publishing aspects. Hopefully it will be as straightforward in practice as it is in theory.

Thank you for reading,

Benjamin Hawley