How do you write something that makes your readers cry? Something that sends chills down people's backs? Prose that explodes in your readers' imaginations? How do you write books that sing?
The fact is you don't write books that sing. It's impossible. Instead, you edit them until they sing whether they want to or not.
Photo by Sal
More than half, maybe as much as two-thirds of my life as a writer is rewriting. I wouldn't say I have a talent that's special. It strikes me that I have an unusual kind of stamina.”
—John Irving, author of Cider House Rules
I have spent the last two weeks editing. First, I read through an eBook for a ghostwriting client six times after nearly sending it to press with several typos that I nearly missed. I've also been editing a powerful book about the writing process for bestselling author Bryan Hutchinson.
I enjoy editing but I also find it exhausting. Editing is labor. You dig through sentences, chisel away at the ones in need of shaping, grind particularly stubborn phrases to dust. (Share that on Twitter?)
And yet, there's no more rewarding work because in editing, you get to witness art, simplicity, and beauty reveal itself out of the dirt, the coal dust, and the grime. If writing is divine creation, rewriting is the honest days' labor of the fine craftsman.
Three Editing Habits You Need to Learn
There is no such thing as good writing, only good rewriting.
—Robert Graves, author of I, Claudius (share this)
We talk a lot about developing your writing habit here at The Write Practice. How, though, do you develop a habit of editing?
You don't have to edit if you're just writing for yourself. However, if you want to be read by others, here are three editing habits you need to incorporate into your daily writing practice.
1. Read
When you approach your first draft to begin editing, you probably want to immediately jump in and start tweaking sentences, correcting grammar, fixing punctuation.
Don't.
Before you begin with individual words and sentences, it's important to take a look at your piece as a whole. Which sections are working? What needs to be cut? Do you need to fill any gaps in logic or plot holes? Do you need to add any scenes? remove any?
Rather than wasting time editing sentences you might delete later, read your piece first. Don't change anything. Don't correct any typos. Instead, just read.
You can take notes if you want to, but the goal for this step of the editing is to take a step back from your work, get some perspective, and develop a plan.
After reading, then and only then should you start to make any major changes.
2. Simplify
Formula for success: 2nd Draft = 1st Draft – 10%…
—Stephen King, author of The Stand
The job of a gem cutter is to take a rough, dirty stone and simplify it into a geometric shape that looks pleasing to the eye and catches the most amount of light. In other words, she makes it look pretty by removing stuff.
Simplicity is a habit. For each sentence, ask, “Can this sentence simpler? Can I make it prettier? Which rough edge can be removed?”
Simplicity is not always achieved by removing words and phrases, though. Sometimes, to bring simplicity to your writing you need to fill holes and logic gaps and thus need to add new content.
Learn more about simplifying your prose by checking out our article, 3 Edits to Make When You Don't Have Time to Edit.
3. Repeat
Read. Simplify. Repeat.
Nearly every great writer follows these habits. I wish it weren't the case. I wish there was some other, easier way. Unfortunately, to write beautiful, life changing prose, you must rewrite. And rewrite. And rewrite.
As Vladimir Nabakov, author of Lolita, once said:
I have rewritten—often several times—every word I have ever published. My pencils outlast their erasers.
May your pencils outlast their erasers.
What editing habits do you have?
PRACTICE
Take a practice you worked on earlier this week or three to four paragraphs from your work in progress and edit it until it sings.
When you're finished, post your practice in the comments section. And if you post, please be sure to leave feedback on a few practices by other writers.
Happy writing!
This was a timely post for me. Thank you for writing it. I have finished my first manuscript and yesterday I THINK I finally finished polishing it. I needed to remove and add sentences–my final draft is about 23000 words longer than my first, but I’ve been told my writing is tight so I think I’m doing it well. I guess we’ll find out.
What was a struggle for me is trying to add new content to my second manuscript while simultaneously editing the first one. It helped that there are some crossover characters but it was also a challenging brain exercise for me. Do you have any tips for that?
Editing a series is a whole different animal! I don’t have any great ideas, but I’ll be on the lookout for some. It’s a good question.
Oh yes it’s terribly daunting, but take lots of notes. If you didn’t outline, reverse engineer your manuscript, and write down important information for your series. Create character sheets (these can eventually be turned into promotional posts if you’re blogging too) and have fun.
If you outlined, heavily or not, then you’re just filling in the dots.
Polishing and tightening writing isn’t always about reducing words. I think that’s a common misconception due to the nature of the words we use. Some stories and genres are naturally longer too, for example, sci-fi and fantasy. If you’re writing is tight then don’t worry about the word count.
Heather, that’s great advice–and it highlights a problem I had because when I started the first manuscript (my very first) it didn’t occur to me there could be a second. Then I got to a key point and thought THAT’s the second story! So yes, I had to go back and write down information and also add in a few details for consistency. Dates, especially.
What I hadn’t thought of is the idea of using character sheets as promotional posts. I did go back and write down specifics about the characters, and I’m going to be refining those into ‘sheets’ soon. But now I’m going to think of them in terms of posts as well. Thanks so much!
Crystal I plan on doing it with my ensemble cast, but I took it a step further, and also wrote out their “beginnings” to stave off info dumping (I write paranormal/fantasy). I do this exercise with every main character and essentially dump them into flash fiction. It serves as free material for my readers, it gets all that clunky backstory down, and I can really flesh out my character backgrounds before the story begins. I clean it up and shape it into prose before releasing, but it’s beneficial for me as a writer. Plus it’s fun and that’s what counts.
Thank you so much for this post! I have a series of books that I’ve been nurturing for what seems forever, and wondering how I can make them something special. Despite the fact I’ve edited and re-written several parts many times, you’ve encouraged me to have at it yet again. Anything I do could only make them better, I’m sure.
I tend to be a pretty fair editor. It’s far easier for me to tackle someone else’s work than my own, however. The term you used, exhausting, it completely accurate. Writing can sometimes be difficult, but it’s nowhere as strenuous as editing and editing and editing.
You’re so welcome! Once more unto the breach, dear friends!
Just be careful not to fall into the pitfall of over-editing. If you find you can’t really change or rewrite, it might be that you’re ready for the next step. A writer’s work is never done though, and it’s easy to keep saying “I can still make it better.” A time will come when you know it’s ready for the next step. I call it my little voice or inner voice, but even after I hit send (to my beta reader), I want to retrieve my e-mail and pamper it some more. Instead I take a deep breath, freak out a bit (okay a lot), don’t sleep right for a week, and then give-up just read a darn good book/write something else.
Oh an it’s so much easier editing another writer’s work. It’s the disconnect because we didn’t write the story.
Thank you for this article. I am currently in the process of editing my first book. It is a daunting and overwhelming task. I have split it into smaller pieces, which has helped me the most. However, it’s hard for me to step back and look at it the way a reader would look at it. Any suggestions?
I have recently joined some writing groups and will be submitting portions of my WIP as it is more reader friendly. I am curious for feedback.
The number one mistake I’ve noticed is coming back to a book too soon. Let it sit. There isn’t a magic number as we’re each different. For me it’s anywhere from 3-6 months. If you find you’re at a point where you can’t do anything more then it’s time to get another set of eyes and find a beta reader to flush out holes.
I would agree to take a break from it. I finished the book the end of November and let it sit until the New Year. I’m going to work on it some more tomorrow as I have been brainstorming all evening!
You’re so right Heather. It really needs to sit a while.
I agree with what Heather said–let it sit for awhile. The other thing I did was to take half a day and read the entire story out loud. It highlighted a few things for me–particularly in regards to character voices, my go-to phrases and the need for a lot of coffee during the process. It was exhausting but I found it useful. Good luck to you!
Thank you! Great suggestions.
I don’t know if you can ever fully step back. When it gets to the point you feel comfortable sending it to a few trusted people, or even a professional editor, their job is to give you insight into how readers see things.
Good post! Editing is hard work, but it’s the only way to make your piece shine. Thanks for the reminder! 🙂
Of course, Monica. I’m sure you’re doing a lot of it right now.
I finished the first draft of my first novel almost a year ago: and I’ve spent 10 of the 12 months since then editing – although a good part of that time might be more accurately described as rewriting, which feels a bit different.
As I approach the end of what I sincerely hope will be the final draft, I have just one observation to add to the discussion – and that is that editing works very differently (for me at least) when I have a printout (Courier, 12pt, double-spaced, wide margins) in front of me, as opposed to a screen. Not better, just different: I think I get the best results by using both media, one after the other.
I often recommend you use multiple mediums for editing. Print outs, reading aloud, reading backwards, on screen, and even on a device. You’re bound to pick up more mistakes this way. Good advice 🙂
I would add that it’s amazing how many mistakes, including typos that I missed innumerable times, crop up in the course of doing that checklist of weak verbs, etc. (from the linked article). Just by giving the ms yet another angle of view – sideways, as it were.
Good point, Alex. What do you think is the difference between rewriting and editing?
Great suggestion! Thanks Alex. 😉
The difference between rewriting and editing? Well, there’s clearly a big area of overlap, but “rewriting” for me is when you look at a large chunk – a chapter or a scene – and say “this is just not right, I’m going to start again with a blank sheet.” That means putting the earlier version to one side (and NOT looking at it!) while you do a second version. I’ve done this a few times now, and the second version is nearly always a lot stronger than the first.
You can always go back to look at the first version afterwards, just in case there were any gems you’d like to recover. My experience so far is that the gems always reappear in the second version anyway, but the waffle is missing.
This is a lot easier than trying to fix a badly broken scene line by line!
I think I need to get back to writing — and finishing something–before I worry about editing. But I like hoe simple it sounds–and yes I know doing it won’t be!
Yeah, finishing is key. You can do it, Giulia. 🙂
Thanks Joe!
I like this a lot. Do you prefer computer or paper for editing? I have found that while I can write on the computer, editing becomes very difficult. Anyone else like that? I’m almost to the stage of editing my first book and I’m very excited about it. Thank you for the tips!
Like you Katharine, I much prefer paper for editing, especially the first big trim.
Here’s a great exercise for clarifying the essence of your work (at any stage) and also crafting a great pitch – whether to agents, publishers or readers: crafting the “Twitter pitch” (see http://avajae.blogspot.ca/2013/05/how-to-write-great-twitter-pitch.html). The task is to distill a great book into 140 characters. “Less is more”!
Here’s my exercise for my adventure novella, Rendezvous – from 1. two paragraphs to 2. one paragraph to 3. one sentence.
1. Rendezvous is a taut yet poetic wilderness adventure tale,
of a young family’s romantic quest to meet in a remote mountain pass. An
overnight storm at the cabin raises a haunting of possibilities for disaster in
the next day’s descent. Follow Will as he battles the elements and faces
challenges of choice, regret, and faith, to navigate the way to survival.
This off-the-grid adventure novella will appeal to nature
lovers, fans of innovative fiction, and anyone fascinated with the suspense of
life-and-death choices, the disorientation of clashing realties. (Think
Groundhog Day, in the heart of the Canadian wilderness).
2. When Will and Faron decide to rendezvous at a remote
mountain pass (Will with a hiking companion, and Faron bringing along their
3-year-old daughter Suze), they fail to account for the forces of nature that
threaten their descent and challenge them with the role of “Survivor,” the
mysterious fate “Lost.”
3. In a mountain storm, the seventh dream-door crashes shut, and Will faces one more
choice to save his family from disaster.
Which version do you find more effective?
This is intriguing Nowick.
I like the 2nd paragraph best, but would love to incorporate the mystical elements in the third.
How about ending the sentence in para 2 at “they fail to account for the forces of nature.” then add “the 7th dream door crashes shut (when? during the descent?) … and Will (has to do?)…
Hey oddznns, that’s a great suggestion. Thanks for that!
BTW I fixed the link to the page above about crafting a Twitter pitch.
I think the second paragraph sounds strongest. And sorry, but in #3, what’s the seventh dream-door? (and I think you mean chance rather than choice)
Thanks, Mirel. Your questions point to the disadvantage of cutting too much. Leaving mystery, without context.
I don’t know, somehow whenever I finish rewriting, the story ends up longer rather than shorter. I think that’s because I tend to write sparsely, and when I rewrite, I add more description. So even if I simplify what I have, by adding description and substance after rewriting I always end up with + rather than – 10%.
I do the same thing, Mirel!
“Pshew,” she said, as she wiped her brow. 😉
Me too! I tend to make assumptions and forget the reader can’t see inside my head…-Sef
This was an awesome article, but I’m honestly scared to do the practice… XD
Me too! Will have to build up to it….-Sef
Yeah. To put something up and say “This is my best work!” terrifies me, because it probably isn’t XD
I think my worst writing habit is editing *while still writing the first draft*. It’s a total waste of my too-little writing time. I’ve been trying to break free of this bad ol’ mindset, but it’s not easy. And like a few others, I’m going to have to build up to this exercise, my courage fled!
Writing comes easy for me. The editing is harder and takes more thought and concentration. Yet, when I look back on the first draft and compare it with draft 5 or 6, the progress always gives me satisfaction.