CornerScribe

Editing Hell

I’ve been working on editing the novel (again). I’ve decided that the best approach is to start with an outline of the scenes I have so far. Then, I can decide what stays and what goes.

To complicate matters, I’ve decided to add three new characters. They’re going to add quite a bit to the plot, so that’s even more rewriting.

Even with all the editing, I still really like this novel. The plot is good, and the characters are people I’d like to know more about, even if they’re not the nicest people all the time. Face it, who wants to read about those, anyway?

One technique that I like is outlining scene by scene and then looking at what conflict (if any) is there. If the scene doesn’t move the storyline alone in some way, then it either needs rewriting or removing. I know some people don’t like a conflict-packed novel, but I think if you take a broad definition of conflict, it works well. Conflict doesn’t have to be action-oriented.

I also find that I have to make myself not jump in to rewriting. I can easily rewrite the first fifty pages dozens of times (editing!) and never look twice at the rest of the novel. My first step has to be taking a look at the novel as a whole, and doing an outline is the best way for me to do that.