Wow, so I didn't realize editing was going to be so hard. I just feel like there is so much to tweak and fix that I get overwhelmed some days with where to start. Where do you guys start? Here are my steps that I'm going to try: 1. Plot points, badly-written scenes that can be tighter, issues with timeline or plot holes, infodumps, poor characterization, etc. Had some beta-readers offer suggestions so I'm going through those to pinpoint these areas. 2. Hunting for adverbs and chopping the extras. (So, most of them). 3. Checking for filters ("She heard birds chirping in the trees." ---> "Birds chirped in the trees") And then going back and doing it all over again. What else should I add to the checklist to look for? What is your method to the madness? How do you handle feeling overwhelmed? I've also learned a few things, namely, that you don't have to agree with every suggestion you get from beta readers / the workshop, and it's sometimes ok to leave it the way you like it.
I usually start with the smaller, technical stuff like filters and adverbs so I don't have to keep them in mind when considering bigger, more story oriented revisions.
I like to start with the big structural stuff, mainly plot/plot holes and characterisation. Changing or fixing those is likely to require significant rewrites, so to me there is no point in making detailed textual edits before the big stuff is done, because that text might change or be cut while fixing structural stuff anyway. After that, I deal with more technical problems which still require major rewrites, like info dumps and weak scenes (bonus in that these two can sometimes be combined, with information sprinkled over more scenes, which in turn makes those scenes more compelling). Only once all that is done do I start looking at the nitty-gritty. It's easy to feel overwhelmed, especially if it's a big project and/or your first. My advice on that would be to take it one step at a time, and don't feel obliged to have the solution all at once. Once you've mentally solved a plot hole, it's okay to just make notes in those places where the solution needs to go (i.e. you don't have to fully rewrite those scenes immediately). Also, especially for the bigger stuff, it might take time for you to come up with the right solution for the book. Sometimes you might even need to rethink some of the things you thought were set in stone, not necessarily to lose them but to frame them from a different angle. Often these things take time, and it's okay to take a break before getting stuck in again (I always need a couple of weeks to a month off from the time I get feedback to the time I have digested it and am ready to dive back in with new plans and ideas).
As @alw86 , I start with big picture. Plot holes, scenes or whole chapters that need a rewrite, or even a partial because those are sometimes harder than writing new. There's no set recipe. The chapters need to hang together, so (usually), when I know what needs to go where and I start on the rewrite, I do so from chapter one and work outwards. Once I take on a chapter I finish it to the best of my ability, which means also first and last sentences. The last is especially important, cause it provides the starting point for the next chapter. This workflow satisfy my craving for doing something well (at last temporarily), as well as lets me take on the big picture piecemeal. Checking for filters and fiddling with sentence constructions I do when I'm rewriting. These small changes come almost second-nature by now. Hope this helps.
When things start to feel overwhelming I break it down into a chunk that feel manageable and tackle it from there. I won't just break it down into what the edit focuses on, but also sections of the story. For example, five chapters or maybe the first act. Sometimes I do only the first sweep of edits before moving on to the next part, sometimes I do all the edits before moving on to the next section. As far as what I do in each pass through... 1. Usually big picture stuff. Figure out if the scene is working as is and improve it if necessary. I'll also fix awkward parts that don't read well, do a little sentence fixing, and then adding in details I'd skipped before (setting, clothes, etc), go over the dialogue. 2. More thorough examination of sentences and delving into tone more. I guess this is when I make sure my character is coming across strong/well, that I'm portraying their thoughts and feelings effectively, that I haven't made anything too somber, dark, comical, or what-have-you. Mostly this part is about specific word choice and making sure there is enough descriptive sentences involving the characters (character's observations, senses, drip fed information about their opinions/past, etc). 3. Sort of a repeat of the first two steps to find anything I missed. For instance, an explanation that wasn't really logical, a description that is still messy, a scene that could use a little bit more description to make it stronger. 4. Grammar. I will try to correct grammar whenever I see it's wrong but I do like to do a final edit where grammar is my only concern. It's two parts. The first part I read over it looking for any and all grammar I've missed. The second part is me then running each chapter through grammarly to see if I've missed anything. 5. Final read through--mostly for grammar, simple mistakes, etc.
Along the lines of what others have said. Tackle one set of concerns at a time. It will mean multiple passes, but that is just part of the job/process. Get the big/structural concerns and plot holes fixed first, before working your way down to refining descriptions and dialogue, and then grammar and typos. Or that's my two cents.
Big picture issues first. Is it too long or too short? Is the style and pov working? Are the characters good enough? Would scenes be better off moved? What's dragging? What needs more explaining? What can be cut? Plot holes, inconsistencies, discrepancies. Side plots, tension, is there enough foreshadowing, red herrings, clues or is it too predictable. Can I tie the theme together with some embedded links What could be confusing to a reader. Have I tied up loose ends Have I resolved the conflict in a fresh way? Has the mc resolved their character arc. After figuring out all this - moving, clipping, cutting, reorganizing-- then I start fresh keeping what sounds good from the salvaged butchering and revamping or rewriting the rest.
Because everyone else has gone over what order you should look at doing things, I'll just chip in with what helped me the most after that. Writing a List. Editing can feel daunting because it can be a large, disordered mess of plugging holes in a ship. Writing a list of everything that needs doing, then crossing out each line off that list as you do it not only helps keep things organized, it makes your brain feel better for physically seeing that the list is getting smaller. Once I got to the end of my list, I found that it brought up a few more holes to plug, so I wrote a new, smaller list. Eventually, you check everything off, and that's when you can start feeling confident it's close to being ready for release/final stages. There will always still be some minor teeny niggles that need addressing, no matter how much editing you do, but when each new list is only ever one to three items long, instead of dozens, then you'll start feeling a lot better.
I print the entire novel first and read it so I can't make changes. I mean, I can, but they have to be with a pen, so it's only broad stroke notes and big things. Then I just kind of evaluate what it is, why it works (or doesn't), and what surprises me about it in both the good and the bad sense. Like, they'll be something I knocked out of the park that I didn't see coming. That tells me there's room to expand in that direction because I did it without trying... it emerged organically from the plot. Then I look at things that I thought I nailed but ultimately fell flat. Those are the blind spots. Obviously I spent a lot of time thinking about them--betting and doubling down on them--but it ain't working, so maybe the story isn't about ABC anymore... it's more about XYZ. Bear in mind this is just me reading, and it's probably only taken me a day or two. There's been no scrutiny of detail yet or examination of separate components. It's just a fresh take on a finished product. This for me is the only time I will be able to form an objective opinion about the project. Once I dive in and start fiddling with things, perspective is gone forever. I won't be able to step back again and examine the basic things that will determine success or failure. Maybe others can, but I can't. So if I don't isolate those initial lessons and apply forward, I'm just rearranging words for the sake of editing. Kind of a lonely, futile feeling, but thems the breaks, I guess.
I couldn't tell who you were responding to, had to scan the whole thread (from the bottom up) till I found this in the 1st post: Filtering words are the words or phrases that put a layer of inactivity between the reader and the action, like saw, heard, felt, thought, remembered etc. The main verb in that sentence above should be chirped, but with the 'She heard' tacked on the front the main verb becomes heard. It's extremely passive and drains all the life out of the sentence. The sentence should be about the birds chirping rather than about the character hearing them chirp. We need to pay attention to these things—do you want to write a story with some action in it, or with people noticing action nearby? Just as a sort of reductio ad absurdum (additio ad absurdum?) imagine this in a book: I had heard somewhere that someone told someone that she remembered thinking someone had told her that Billy might have shot Edward. Cut through all the filtering phrases and make it a bit more visceral: Billy pulled a black pistol from somewhere in his clothes and shot Edward in the chest at point blank range.
To built on what @Xoic said about filter words, they are insidiously insulting because they point toward the obvious as if the reader was stupid. Of course the character "heard" the chirping. You can't see, smell, or taste a chirp. And of course a character would "see" a mountain in the distance. You can't hear, smell, or taste a mountain. It's not always that big deal a deal. Everyone uses sensory filters here or there, but if you do it constantly it does add that extra, unnecessary level of perception that can really drag a story down. Especially considering that there's already a level of sensory separation inherent to all written mediums. Namely how a writer can put the reader "there" through black and white words on the page instead of through direct stimuli like you would see on a movie screen. It's an enormous gulf to overcome from the get-go--which is what makes writing so hard in the first place--without adding that extra level of sensory obstacles.
There are times when it becomes important to say that a character noticed, saw or heard something. None of these rules are hard and fast, same as with 'show don't tell' for instance. You don't want to do an entire story through nothing but showing—it would take far too long and there are times when you want to breeze through and just tell us what's happening, get things moving. There are places where it's appropriate to tell, and to use filtering phrases. But there's a tendency for beginner writers to do everything through telling and to filter all the action unnecessarily. You want to become aware of these things, learn to notice them in your work (and the work of other writers—you'll probably start spotting it there first) and then apply judgement on where it's appropriate and where it's not.
I always edit with the paragraph in mind. That's where tension lives, because the sentence is the level of idea, and the paragraph allows those ideas to shift. So first I look at the proportions within a paragraph. What had emphasis? What should have had emphasis? Typically my deletes will be me over-describing or giving imagery to something that didn't need it. This is where I'm chopping adverbs/adjectives. (Nouns/verbs are kings.) Mostly it's whole phrases and sentences dying. It's the "bring out your dead" moment. It's where your darlings die. Once I have the essential being said, I try to wring all the extra baggage out of the sentence. Minimizing verb tenses and slimming down phrases. Rewording for simplicity. It's like trying to get a craft project done with the perfect amount of adhesive compared to a kindergartener's effort with paste everywhere--on paper, clothes, the housecat. This is where I'm killing filler and sorting phrases/lines. I eliminate crutch words. By that point the basic lines are there and I'm testing paragraph flow, which is IMO a lot more than long/short sentences. Every book I have claims that that's all there is to it, but it's not. (I know I had a couple books agree with me, so I shouldn't say "every." I wish I could remember which ones those were!) I'm looking at active/passive/static, complex/simple, poetic/literal, 1st/2nd/3rd person, present/past/future shifts, SVO/OVS word order, fragments, etc. There's also the basic intentions of a sentence. How is it getting to its point? (Direct statement, by negation, by example.) One day I should try making a complete list . . . I aim for shifting rhythms that can't be predicted. A totally shifting rhythm is a type of rhythm too, so I let sentence structures repeat when they want to. Sometimes I cut/paste lines out of order. It's surprising how many times that works. I try to align sentences so that the end of one connects with the beginning of another. That's cohesion, or a strong form of it. It's not the only way you get cohesion. haha In the end I have to read the paragraph and FEEL it. It needs to have sensory or emotional impact. I want to be able to say that "This place seems real. This person seems real." And if that is true, then the plot will be believable and the reader will care. And then I line edit. I'm constantly tightening and looking at flow. It's kind of unusual to add anything at that point. I still delete things that can be inferred by the reader. I feel that the more details are entrusted to the reader, the more they're a participant in the narrative. They're shaping parts of the story themselves. Then I'm looking across the scene. I kill accidental repetitions. When you're editing, it's easy to put reps in. I think a lot of the errors I find in books are caused by late-draft line edits in one paragraph conflicting with material on previous pages. Almost forgot! Every paragraph has a worst line. Even when the paragraph is done, it's there. It's the guy wheezing in hospice. Can you save him or do you dramatically close his eyes like at the end of a Lifetime melodrama? You must choose. The time comes when you must let go. tldr: emphasis where it's needed (stressing coherence), sentence rhythm (stressing cohesion), tighten all prose. Repeat a dozen times, two dozen, three. Each time it goes faster.
Hey thanks everyone, I thought by "filter" the OP was talking about a program he puts his documents through to pick out passive voice. I'm with y'all now!
I'm very close to starting the editing process in my book (I gone one last chapter to write), but i'll def be on the lookout for this!
