I am writing a series. I have 3 incomplete books and 1 complete book that DESPERATELY needs editing. They are in one word document and they total in 114 pages. I am a bit overwhelmed because this I still have a lot of writing to do and a lot of editing. What do I do?
Why are they all in one document together? I would think it'd be easier to put each book in its own document, and then when you work on them maybe it'll feel like a less-daunting task..?
First copy and paste saving the document as draft 1. Maybe separate the book you've finished into separate word doc's according to chapters. That way you can examine them on a more micro level. Then read it through once and make some notes about what you feel is right with the story ( overall ) and what you feel is wrong ( overall ) - plotholes, fluky character arcs, scenes that don't ring right, strange dialogue. Next brainstorm a bit as how to fix them. Try and fix major things first. Go back and read it through. Correct SPaG issues when you can. If you feel it's improved - maybe it's time to let someone else read it and give you some advice.
I am in a somewhat similar situation with working on multiple books in a series simultaneously. I would cast another vote for splitting them into separate Word documents, I think that will visually separate them for you, which may help. Then, what I did (I know everyone's methods will be a little different ) was to get out a big sheet of paper and just write out my entire story arc - like the whole thing from start to finish for the whole series. Once I had that I decided where each book in the series would start/end, then made a brief outline of the major events in every individual book. Since the first one is mostly done I would recommend printing it out (sorry, I'm an old-school tree-killer, I need to hold it in my hands!) and mark it up like crazy with a pen. That's how I've done all my first-round edits, I've found it's a little easier to wrap my head around it visually that way instead of scrolling endlessly through a dizzyingly long Word doc. Honestly once you have the big arc with the mini-arcs for each book figured out though you might find you're able to bounce back and forth between them a little easier, it's worked really well for me so far, at least and I am nearing the final stages of editing on the second one at this point. I hope this is helpful! Don't give up or get overwhelmed - you've got this on lock down!
