I've Written a Novel ... Now What?

I've finished the SFD of my first novel - my shitty first draft. I had to leave off writing for the blog so that I could finish - but now what?

It's edit time. And I'm smack bang in the middle of the edit. How do you go about editing though? thought at first that editing was about checking for typos, missing words, sentences or paragraphs that didn't work.

How wrong could I be. Reading through my novel it became clear that editing is actually rewriting. The kind of edit I had in my mind was simply proofreading - still an important task, but not as crucial as the rewrite. I'm moving chapters around, changing how my main character gets her story across (I've gone from notebooks to letters), and changing how the granddaughter (the main character of present time) comes across the story.

At first I was really worried that I would spoil my novel by changing it so fundamentally, but the more I chisel away at the bones of the SFD, the more I can it's coming together as something that works. It's not yet a piece of art, it's not yet for sharing, but it's getting stronger by the edit.

These are my 5 tips for editing that I've pulled together, and I'm applying these to the edit for my book.

Ask yourself "If the words don't move the narrative along, do I need the words at all?"
Have I left backstory in the novel that I needed for me to understand what was going on, but the reader really doesn't need? If so, delete it.
Is the action/dialogue/event/character believable and consistent? If not, what will help it become believable and consistent?
Does the plot hang together?
Are the characters strong enough? If not, is that ok because it's a less important character? Or do I need to strengthen the character?

I'm starting a self-editing course in September and although I'm carrying on with my edit and rewrite, I'm looking forward to how that will help me strengthen my writing.

Comments

Write What You Know, Or So They Say

Since school days, when my love for writing and reading started to mature under the tutelage of Mrs Hymers, I've been told to write what I know. Let's face it, though, you're not really that interested in a novel about an NHS programme manager. Silly though it sounds, I've only recently attuned to what the phrase means. It's not referring to my profession or what I do, but rather it's about writing from a place of knowing. If you know Liverpool like the back of your hand, then write about it, but if you've never been there it's maybe better to concentrate a place that you do know. However I realise there is something else about 'write what you know' and this place of knowing, and that's the role of research. It's ok for me to research something to the point where when I write about it, you think I have written about what I know. Take the photograph at the top of this post. Flowers in a jug sitting on hessian. What do you know about ...

Living with Mother

When mum was my age she refused to look after my daughter. A toddler of 3 who needed collecting from private nursery 2 days a week, and taking to the nursery at the school she'd be attending. Mum said no, that was too much to ask. She'd seen how tired grandparents got looking after their grandchildren and 'knew what it was like' for these people she observed in cafes or walking around the park. ‘It isn’t fair to ask someone of 59 to do that,’ she'd say. It's a lot to ask of old people that they look after their grandchildren. I’m 59. I’m all my mum has left. I look after her, working full time, and she's right. I’m tired looking after her. But the big difference is that as I look after her, she's only going to get older and needs more and more 'looking after'. Had my mum looked after my daughter, she would only have got older and needed less 'looking after'. For the last 5 years we've WhatsApp'd every morning, so that I know she’s...

How to Write a Fair Book Review

Do you write book reviews? I write them on Goodreads, NetGalley for the advanced reader copies(ARC) that I get for honest reviews, and on my Instagram account. I sometimes leave reviews on Amazon too. I've only ever written one bad review - bad as in I gave it 1 star. In the main I don't leave 1-3 star reviews because I assume that it's just not a book for me. The one negative review I did write was for something that should never have been published. There were continuity issues, poor copyediting, unrealistic characters and plot, and the dialogue was stilted and unrealistic. There was little positive you could say about the book. I only finished it because I was on holiday and had little else with me to read. All the other reviews I give tend to be 4-5 star reviews because I'm selective in what I read. I look at the reviews other people leave and I find myself wondering why they written what they did. There are 1 star reviews where people comment that 'this jus...

Search This Blog