Editing the Entire Manuscript
Three Simple (not easy) Steps to Tackling the Big Project
I. At this point, your outline should be in tip-top shape.
I’m sure you are all about to have a heart attack and die of not-surprise that I have said this. (Aladdin reference circa 1992). If you’re a pantser who still hasn’t written an outline now is the time to do it! And at this point—with a completed manuscript to guide you it should actually be a pretty simple task. You will go through the manuscript scene by scene and write 1-2 lines about each using the guidelines below:
a. Each chapter should have action that moves the story forward (resource: K.M. Weiland is a great resource on this in her book Structuring Your Story
b. Each chapter should also have a point that ties back to your main theme or the overall point of your story.
Also consider graphing the high and low points of your story. A story should, move. it should change and the characters should evolve over time. A graph (even a 2-D one) can show you if you are spending too much time hanging out in any one place on the graph. i.e. does your charcter just kind of hang out around their status quo most of the time because you’ve not been willing to put them through the ringer? or do you go so overboard torturing your character that they (and your audience) never get a break? A graph will show you these things. Your story should have high and low points a few times when your characters are just hanging around the mid-line too.
II. Print off each chapter along with the bullets of the chapter’s action and point
a. Go through the entire MS to ensure each chapter moves the story forward
b. And makes the point you want that chapter to make
Don’t stop to make the edits now. Simply read through the entire manuscript and mark off each chapter’s action and point with a colored pen or put an “X” and some notes on how you could improve it when you go back to edit.
Some questions you can ask yourself as you go through each chapter:
1. Does something happen in each chapter to move the story forward?
2. Does the point of the chapter tie back to your over all theme?
3. Does each chapter lead into or set up the next chapter (or a subsequent chapter) leading to that inevitable feeling. The feeling your reader gets when they can’t put the book down or can’t wait to return to it to see what happens next. ( K.M. Weiland’s book Structuring Your Novel goes into great detail on this if you’d like to dive deeper.)
Fix what needs to be fixed after that first pass through your manuscript. Take a break. Pause. Treat yourself and congratulate yourself for all your hard work. We are gearing up for one more pass through the entire thing.
III. After you have gone through each chapter and made the necessary edits, your book should be in excellent shape. Now print off the entire thing. Read through it as a reader would. Look for red light, yellow light, and green light issues (examples of each are listed below). Don’t stop to fix them yet. Simply highlight and notate which page you found it on.
Red light issues are big issues that ripple thoughout the story:
plot-holes,
dropped threads,
and lack of narrative drive which is that cause-and-effect trajectory that pulls your reader through the story.
These kinds of problems require edits that span multiple chapters and red-light issues edits should be completed before moving on to edit the yellow and green light issues simultaneously.
Now for your final pass through the novel (before you send your manuscript off to beta readers and/or an editor. In the previous step you identified these yellow and green light issues, now you will make a final pass to fix them before sending your book baby out into the world for the first time.
Yellow light issues are things like:
dialogue that serves the story and fits the individual characters,
handling the passage of time in a way that is clear and logical,
and is the writer always showing instead of telling?
Green light issues are things like:
paragraphs and scenes are tight, no extraneous words,
pacing is rhythmic (this is where your story graph can help you),
grammar is correct
After all of these steps are complete your book baby is ready to see the light of day. Make a wish, whisper a prayer and JUST DO IT! The world needs to hear your story!