So you finished your novel! You posted your last chapter and toggled that mythical little button from 'Ongoing' to 'Complete' and it felt amazing. After months of following your characters around from scene to scene, trying to put their words into words, and after weeks of living through the drama of your climax, you finally arrived at the (maybe) happy ending you've been dreaming of. It takes serious focus and determination to write a novel start to finish and you absolutely should be proud of yourself.

While you were creating the thing you handled it so delicately and coaxed it into life with a hundred loving affirmations. You gave your first draft every permission to be overblown and undercooked, sentimental and overwritten. Anything to get the next chapter out on the page!

Lovelies, the time for soft, loving caresses and self-indulgence is over. Now we get out the hammer and tongs to bang on that thing until it's sturdy enough for million smart readers to take it for a spin and come back for another ride, out of respect for your craftsmanship.

Let's take this editing process step by step, layer by layer. It can be intimidating to wade into a full-length project. If you're not sure where to start with your edits, start here:

Editing for clarity.

1. Is your spelling, grammar and punctuation correct? Do you break up the monotony of a paragraph by varying your sentence types?

If you're still struggling with the basics, get help. I'm sorry, grade school grammar was a long time ago for me. I can't remember a time I wasn't playing with sentence structure to make my words flow and tease your brain. Please leave any recommends in the comments, If you have helpful resources in this area!

2. Check the opening lines of every chapter. Do they clearly introduce the setting and pull us into the scene? No one has time to make every sentence an artful poem--sometimes your characters just get in the car and drive. But take extra care with crafting each of your opening paragraphs.

3. Trim your excess verbiage. Good bye unnecessary -ly words, good bye grandiose similes in every sentence. Say what you need to say and no more.

Listen, I'm the queen of overwriting. It's a stylistic choice for me to include so much information about the character facial expressions and bodily sensations that you sink into their world and feel what they feel. But BECAUSE I want to use this technique effectively, I go back and ruthlessly prune. Confession time, lovely readers: my rough drafts are three times more over-written then my finished novels!

I've made little rules of thumb, because style is about consistency. If these help you trim your wordy words, feel free to steal them.

👍Only ONE -ly word describing speech per character, per scene. "I need a cigarette," Jon said softly.

👍Only ONE use of a unique dialogue word per character, per scene. "Bullocks," Cary growled.

👍Only ONE metaphor/simile per paragraph, and no more than three in a scene. If you enjoy sprinkling your writing with colourful figures of speech, now is the time to make a clean sweep. Too much frosting and you lose the shape of the cake!

"His laughter was warm as cookies fresh from the oven and his eyes sparkled like freshly poured coffee."

Ack! Too much! Lol.

👍Only ONE use of how it made them feel in their body, per scene. (In my third-person limited pov, this only applies to the mc of the scene.)

"Tell them whatever you like," Kurt said flippantly. "I'm only keeping you on the down low because you asked." His heart was pattering as he tried to remember Jon's pastor-dad from their old church. Everything about those memories, from the shape of the men in suits standing at the doors of the sanctuary, to the repetitive loop of the worship choruses made his body feel like he was bracing to take a punch. "Are they going to be okay with us? Do you think?"

I reserve each of these flourishes for when it really counts, the moments I most want my readers to feel the punch Kurt is feeling (because this anxiety is what prompts him to bail in the next scene), or hear Cary's voice most clearly (because his anger is revealing to the other characters).

4. Did you leave anything out? Do your readers have all the information they need to follow the story?

For example: I was surprised when readers from my book club were confused about Jon's job in For Us. They were asking questions like...is he working for a church? Where is this office you describe? Is Jordin going to be kicked out of the house for being trans? How come Jordin can come out but Jon can't?

This is something I love about Wattpad--live reader feedback told me exactly where I needed to fill in some gaps. I am very familiar with Jon's work setting; my husband worked in a group home like this for a couple years, and now manages similar homes that care for people who experience disabilities. Because of my familiarity with the subject, I didn't realize that I had left out basic information that readers needed to get their bearings in the story.

So in my first round of edits, I went back to the every mention of Jon's work place in the opening ten chapters of For Us to flesh out the details.

Chapter Four, FIRST DRAFT:

When Jon arrived on shift that evening, two of his staff people were talking quietly in the office as they finished filling out their paperwork. "Mornin' boss," Angel said, giving him a small smile.

Chapter Four, FINAL VERSION:

River House group home was an ordinary bungalow in a residential neighbourhood. When Jon arrived on shift that evening, two of his staff were talking quietly in the office off the hall as they finished filling out their paperwork.

"Mornin' boss," Angel said, giving him a small smile.

Chapter Five, FIRST DRAFT:

Jon swallowed, shutting his eyes, then texting the rest: <I had nothing to lose then and I wish that was still true>

He stared at that in black and white on the screen, then added: <what's your favorite song that you wrote?>

Chapter Five, FINAL VERSION:

Jon swallowed, shutting his eyes briefly, then texting the rest: <I had nothing to lose then and I wish that was still true>

{Kurt}

Kurt had to catch a ride with Cary to their worksite because his piece of shit Corolla wouldn't start again. Leaning an elbow on the dusty passenger side door of Cary's truck, Kurt blinked at the morning sunlight gilding the empty streets and thought about Jon's last text.

"Can I ask you a question, Douglas?" he ventured.

"Shoot," Cary said.

"You don't have to tell me if it's none of my business. But, um. Why isn't Jon out? Is it his churchy parents?"

"Nope," Cary said gruffly. "Pete an' Mel know. They've known for years. They're good with Jon bein' gay."

Kurt slid him a look, rubbing his hand over his mouth. That was a surprise.

"I think it's his work," Cary said.

"I thought you said he's in social work. If he's working for the government that's all protected-it's not 2004; we're a liberal, gay-loving country now."

"He's working for a Christian not-for-profit," Cay said. "River House. Lookin' after kids the foster system don't want. I think his house didn't get the liberal gay-lovin' memo."

Kurt tasted sick in the back of his mouth. "He's not still eating their homophobic shit about being gay, is he? 'Cause that's a fucking deal-breaker for me. I can't stomach it even a little."

Cary made a huffing noise. "A deal-breaker, huh?" He gave Kurt a knowing look, his dark eyes crinkling in a smile. "You two in touch?"

Kurt couldn't keep his lips from curling in a smile back. "Maybe. A little." God, he was blushing. Kurt Visser was not a blusher.

"Mm-hm," Cary said, but he looked pleased. "Nah, Jon's good with himself. The kids at his work are just his whole life, is all. He don't have time for a boyfriend if he's even allowed. No one's ever caught his eye to give him a reason to make the time. Up to now."

{Jon}

<what's your favourite song that you wrote?>

See what I did there? Is it helpful for me to include these examples?

Editing for clarity is what most beginning writers are imagining when they say "I need to edit my novel." It's the most superficial layer of changes we can make to polish our manuscripts, and it does need doing.

HOWEVER there are at least two more layers of deeper edits that will transform your story into a beautifully crafted work of art that people can't stop reading.

Editing to raise the stakes

and

Editing for character development.

Editing to raise the stakes will have your readers staying up way past their bedtime scrolling to find out what happens. Editing for character development will take your readers on a journey with your characters that breaks their hearts and then glues the pieces back together with a kiss. This is where the real editing magic happens.

Stay tuned for the next post in the 'Words about words' editing series!

*This one's for MissMysteryGame, whose practical and genuinely helpful book 'Misty's Big Help' , now renamed 'Write Better, Write Happier', inspired this mish-mash up of book review, author blog and writing advice.*