How to Revise Your Novel
You may have heard the phrase “writing is revising.” This is completely true. Once you’re done with your first draft, congratulations! That’s an amazing feat. But your work has only just begun. Now, you have a mess of a manuscript to form into something readable.
Before you send it off to an editor or beta readers, you’ll have to self edit. No one will be able to revise your first draft better than you, with all the half-formed ideas that may or may not have made it into the current draft. Whether you’re a plotter or a pantser, you’ll need to edit, so here are some helpful tips for self-editing your manuscript.
7 Tips for Self-Editing Your Book
Print out your novel
This is optional, but I always find it extremely useful when revising any of my manuscripts. Changing from a screen to a physical copy can give you a new perspective and change your brain’s perception of the book as you read.
2. Reread thoroughly and make notes
Don’t jump into revision right away. In fact, I usually recommend taking a few weeks away from the finished draft before jumping into revisions so that you can come back to it with fresh eyes. But once you’re ready, reread through the entire book and make notes. Don’t make changes just yet, as tempted as you might be. This is important for the next step.
3. Write a summary for the book and each chapter
If you are a pantser, you likely didn’t have much of an outline. Even if you are a plotter, some changes may have occurred from your original plan. This is where step number three comes in. As you read through your manuscript, summarize every chapter and scene. Write down what happens and, most importantly, why. What is the purpose of the scene? This will come up later.
4. Describe your character’s GMC – Goal, Motivation, Conflict
As you’re taking notes, take notes on character, as well—most importantly, your main character. What is their goal in the story? What motivates them to move? What conflicts keep them from accomplishing their goal?
Goals and motivations can change throughout the story, but keep track of when and why they change. It is important to make sure that each scene and chapter is pushing us closer to or further away from the goal in a meaningful way.
Check out how to use GMC or pick up the book GMC: Goal Motivation, Conflict by Debra Dixon.
Revising with Voice
Revising should maintain your voice while emphasizing your intention and increasing your impact.
5. Identify unnecessary scenes and cut
Here is the important piece mentioned in steps three and four. It’s also one of the hardest to do.
Look through scenes you don’t need, and cut them from the manuscript.
With a summary of each scene, along with the purpose of the scene, you should be able to see if multiple scenes serve to accomplish the same purpose. If you see that multiple scenes serve to build the same character trait, this could be a sign that you have too many redundancies. Think about combining or chopping scenes as you need.
There may also be times where you need to add scenes, such as adding scenes to further push a character’s development or fix pacing. You’ll be able to see gaps in the summaries where motivations don’t line up or sudden changes don’t quite make sense.
6. Plan and execute
Now, you should have a clear plan, or at least the beginnings of one. This is the most fun and frustrating part: executing your planned changes. It can help to map out these changes in an excel document, if you work well with those. Scrivener also has a useful Notes section that you can type ideas into for each chapter.
This process could take weeks, months, even years, depending on how quickly you work. There is no rush. But it can help to set a deadline for yourself so that you have an end goal in mind. Some people work well under a deadline, so you can ask a friend or loved one to hold you accountable. It especially helps if you plan on sending it to an editor or beta reader on a certain day, because it requires you to have it done within a certain length of time.
7. Keep each new draft in a new file
Lastly, make sure that you keep each iteration of your novel. For each of my books, I have at least two or three files of the full novel, aptly named TITLE 2.0, TITLE 3.0, etc. This is so you can go back and reference changes you’ve made and scenes you may have cut that you decide to add later. You’ll always want to be able to go back.
What to Edit
If you’re not sure what you’re even looking for when revising, keep these in mind:
Plot holes/gaps
Stakes
Timeline (time skips, deadlines, etc.)
World-building
Magic systems
Contradictions (magic works like x in the first chapter, but works like y in chapter ten)
Character arcs
Relationships
Realistic dialogue
Consistency
Point of View(s)
Everything should work cohesively to portray the story the way you want it to. Each scene and chapter should help further accomplish that goal to build up to the final image you want to leave in your reader’s mind.
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