I’ve spent the past couple months editing a novel I wrote during NaNoWriMo 2021. My goal was to edit 10,000 words per week. Some chapters only needed slight tweaks, others needed total rewrites. For each day I worked I recorded what I accomplished and shared tips.

WEEK 1 – WEEK 2 – Week 3 – Week 4 – Week 5 – Week 6 – Week 7 – Week 8

Monday

So I have several chapters left to edit, but I believe I can more or less finish this round by Friday. Most of the remaining chapters already play out the way I want them to. I don’t want to spend too much time focusing on them now because I know when I go back with the second round of edits, I will make further alterations to early chapters which will affect the ending. For now I’m just reading through to make sure I have a solid story.

Tuesday

I got a lot edited today. There isn’t a lot to report other than that so I’ll just write about preparations for the next round of edits.

After a month-long break I will return to the story by 1) Creating a fresh plot outline and 2) Completing some character outlines that will answer questions like “What is this character’s first happy memory?” and “Have they ever been in love?” Most authors complete these outlines before they start the rough draft but I think there is something to be said about completing them a couple drafts in. I now know the plot and characters significantly better than I did before and will be able to dig in deeper and cut to the heart of the story.

Wednesday

I’ve been trying to get back into the habit of meditating before I write/edit. Just for a couple minutes I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths to focus. I don’t even think about where I am in the story, I just focus on my breathing to center myself.

Thursday

I had some extra time today so I went to the library and found some books that fell into the same genre as my first novel The Night Highway. I then flipped to the back and read the acknowledgement pages to uncover the names of the agents. This is an fairly easy little trick to find legitimate agents who are interested in your genre.

Friday

And I’m officially done with this round of edits! (YAY!!!)

For the rest of February (and possibly the first couple weeks of March) I’ll focus on submitting The Night Highway to agents. I will also spend some time on writing/editing/submitting short fiction. I’m still really excited about this current project I just completed and can’t wait to get back to it after the break.

Takeaways

1. In early rounds of editing your novel don’t kill yourself making everything absolutely perfect. You are going to have later run-throughs in which you can do that.
2. Take a break between each round of editing your novel. Focus on other aspects of your life or just work on other writing projects.
3. After you finish a couple drafts consider going back and spending some time outlining. This will help you get to the heart of the characters and their story.
4. Consider meditating before writing.
5. When you are ready to start looking for agents, consider going to your local library and searching for books that fit in your genre. Most authors thank their agents in the acknowledgements section.