I’m spending the next month or so editing a novel I wrote during NaNoWriMo 2021. My goal is to edit 10,000 words per week. Some chapters will need just slight tweaks, others will need total rewrites. For each day I work I will (briefly) record what I accomplished and share tips. WEEK 1 & WEEK 2.
This week I’m stepping it up a notch. I’m sharing FIVE takeaways instead of just a measly three.
Monday
Today I realized the chair in my office (office = tiny room where I keep my graphic novels, tattered paperbacks and Sandman posters) was unbearably uncomfortable so my wife (who is amazing) helped me haul a couch up two flights of stairs so I can write in a more comfortable environment. Honestly, the original chair wasn’t THAT uncomfortable, but my anxiety is affecting me in a way that it was difficult to sit in.
The cats are loving having a new place to sleep and I feel less claustrophobic. Plus now I have the option of one ugly yellow couch in the living room and one ugly green couch in my office.
Oh yeah, and I also did some writing today. Met my goal. Nothing huge.
Tuesday
I’m still catching up on a bunch of chores I put off during the holidays so I didn’t actually get around to editing the novel until much later in the morning. I did hit my goal but the chapter still feels rough. It’s brand new and feels forced. Something is going to need to change in later drafts. Who knows if it’s even going to stay. Fortunately tomorrow’s chapter will only require some light editing.
Wednesday
Aaaaand I overslept so I didn’t get nearly as much done in the morning as I was hoping to. To make matters worse when I was halfway through the chapter, a horrible idea dropped into my mind: “What is the point of this scene?” The chapter is significant in that it develops a side of the hero’s life we have not seen much of up until now, but these pages needed more than that. They needed a relevant shift in the hero’s situation.
I ran out of time while brainstorming because I needed to drive to work. During that time I sort of stepped out of the chapter and gave my brain a break. While pulling into the parking lot I started considering what would happen in the next chapter and realized our hero was being way too passive. In my current draft she’s just going about her day when she receives a piece of information that pushes her forward. She needed to come up with the information herself. Soon I figured out how she was going to do this and wrote the scene out during my lunch break. What I have now isn’t perfect but it will lead to something much stronger.
Thursday
Editing was split up across the day. I reached my goal no problem. I’m editing a section of the novel that feels pretty solid.
Unfortunately I realized today that I will most likely need to 100% nix one of my main characters. This stings, but honestly I think the story flows better without this individual. Scenes throughout feel a little crowded and the fact that it’s so easy to take him out and give vital lines to other characters (with their own spin) is a sign he doesn’t belong.
Friday
I had the day off today so I plunged ahead to a fantastic stopping spot. I’m now at the official halfway point in the story (maybe even further in terms of actual word count). The second half might take longer because it’s rougher, but despite my complaints I’m having a blast.
Also my cats are really enjoying the new couch.
Editing A Novel Takeaways
- Try to make your writing space as comfortable as possible. The more comfortable your environment the easier it will be to be creative.
- Every scene/chapter needs a point. The character’s situation needs to change in one way or another. Describing an aspect of a character’s life does not warrant a chapter.
- When uncertain about where the story is going, step away, do something else and trust it will come to you.
- Keep your characters active (this is something I’ve been saying for years and I still have trouble adhering to it).
- It might hurt but there are some characters you will end up cutting. If you can see the story holding up without them, maybe you need to put them in another story.
