How Do You Edit?

There are many guidelines for editing, but what does your overall editing process look like and how does it work for you? I try to make my methodology interesting, so that I don’t become bored with my writing.

When it comes to creative writing, I don’t start “editing” until about the third draft. Articles and technical writing is a different story, but when it comes to novels and short stories, my first draft is purely creative. I write by the seat of my pants rather than outlining. I begin with a general plot and write where the story leads me.

For me, the first couple of drafts are the most enjoyable because the story is just as new to me as to a first-time reader. Granted, some of what I put down in the first draft makes no sense when I revisit it in my second draft, but it does leave impressions that I either mold into the story or discard.

The second draft is cleanup and refining the plot and characters. As the story comes together, I often rearrange chapters and solidify characters and plot. Often scenes will be added or deleted. I will begin cursory editing at this point, but that is basically search-and-replace. For example, I will go conduct a global search on a variety of passive words and phrases, replacing them as necessary.

Aside from search-and-replace, I write and edit from cover-to-cover editing, beginning each revision with chapter 1 and edit to the end. This helps me see both the overall story as well as the intimate details, and by the time I start a new revision with chapter 1, the story has gone cold.

Along with “The Ultimate Self-Editing Checklist”, provided to me as a member of Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild, I developed my personal editing checklist and focus on several rules at a time. For example, I may focus on on-the-nose, over-explaining, and point-of-view with one revision and the next, overusing adjectives and adverbs. I will have a dozen revisions before it is ready to submit – keeping multiple revisions rule-of-thumb I learned from years as a software developer.

Anyway, that’s my approach and yours is likely to be much different. One NYT best-selling author writes one day and aggressively edits the next, but in the end, it comes down to whatever works best for you. If you’re struggling with editing, perhaps it’s the story itself, or maybe it’s your editing methodology.