Crossworlds
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Bonus Material

Tuesday Tips: How Many Rounds of Editing Does Your Book Need?

10/30/2018

0 Comments

 
People often ask how many rounds of editing a book should go through. I’ve honestly lost count of how many times I’ve read over my story, but twelve has always been a magic number in my books. So, here’s a starting guide for your rounds of editing, though I’d honestly recommend you lose count too.
 
  1. Does the story make sense? Did you take care of any plot holes? Is everyone acting according to what’s supposed to be driving them?
  2. Remove unnecessary scenes.
  3. Repeat step one, because now that you’ve cut some stuff, you might have plot holes again.
  4. Does it flow well? Tidy up your transitions, improve those blocks of writing you wrote just to get them down, tune up your writing style.
  5. Technical editing: spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure/flow, etc.
  6. Read it out loud from your computer.
  7. Read it silently from your computer.
  8. Get yourself a printed proof copy and read that out loud.
  9. Now read that one silently.
  10. Also check that printed proof for formatting issues, and make sure all your chapter headings line up with where the table of contents say they do.
  11. Put it away for a while, then do another round with fresh eyes.
  12. Now you’re probably ready to let someone else read it, giving you a new perspective that will probably draw attention to issues you had no idea existed, and potentially sending you back to step one.
Mansion's Twins
Mansion's Family
Acapella Angels
Dawn's Acapella
Stories of the Early Days
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    June 2021
    April 2021
    June 2020
    May 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.