One of the most important things to keep in mind when moving between professional writing (not writing for money, but writing in a professional setting) and fiction/prose writing is that the goal in professional writing is generally to be as concise as possible while still being clear, and the goal in fiction/prose is not that.

There are a lot of things that people may be trying to accomplish with fiction/prose, a lot of feelings that people may try to evoke, and there are a lot of reasons why people may need to cut words in their story, but a shorter/more concise sentence in fiction is not necessarily a better sentence.

When are writing, or when you have to cut words, don't go into with the mindset purely of having fewer words than you started with at any cost.

I used to work for a trade book reviewer where I got payed to review people's books, and one of the rules of that review company is one that I think is just super useful to media analysis as a whole, and that is, we were told never to critique media for what it didn't do but only for what it did.

So, for instance, I couldn't say "this book didn't give its characters strong agency or goals". I instead had to say, "the characters in this book acted in ways that often felt misaligned with their characterization as if they were being pulled by the plot."

I think this is really important because a lot of "critiques" people give, if subverted to address what the book does instead of what it doesn't do, actually read pretty nonsensical. For instance, "none of the characters were unique" becomes "all of the characters read like other characters that exist in other media", which like... okay? That's not really a critique. It's just how fiction works. Or "none of the characters were likeable" becomes "all of the characters, at some point or another, did things that I found disagreeable or annoying" which is literally how every book works?

It also keeps you from holding a book to a standard it never sought to meet. "The world building in this book simply wasn't complex enough" becomes "The world building in this book was very simple", which, yes, good, that can actually be a good thing. Many books aspire to this. It's not actually a negative critique. Or "The stakes weren't very high and the climax didn't really offer any major plot twists or turns" becomes "The stakes were low and and the ending was quite predictable", which, if this is a cute romcom is exactly what I'm looking for.

Not to mention, I think this really helps to deconstruct a lot of the biases we carry into fiction. Characters not having strong agency isn't inherently bad. Characters who react to their surroundings can make a good story, so saying "the characters didn't have enough agency" is kind of weak, but when you flip it to say "the characters acted misaligned from their characterization" we can now see that the *real* problem here isn't that they lacked agency but that this lack of agency is inconsistent with the type of character that they are. a character this strong-willed *should* have more agency even if a weak-willed character might not.

So it's just a really simple way of framing the way I critique books that I think has really helped to show the difference between "this book is bad" and "this book didn't meet my personal preferences", but also, as someone talking about books, I think it helps give other people a clearer idea of what the book actually looks like so they can decide for themselves if it's worth their time.

Giving and Receiving Great Feedback

                A part of every writing process is receiving feedback from others, and likely reading someone else’s work and giving it yourself. First, we do this because there’s no such thing as a perfect writer, and what happens in our heads when we read our own work may not necessarily be what the reader is getting. As well, reading others’ work helps you with your literacy skills, and what’s important to you as a reader (plus, it’s just nice to return the favour).

                So here’s some tips to giving good feedback:

When receiving feedback, remember it’s ultimately your work and you get the final say, but remain open to the suggestions and comments you’re receiving. Try them out, but don’t be afraid to end up not including them if they aren’t working for you. Never argue, even if you think your feedback giver is wrong—they took time out of their day to read your work, you should thank them for their thoughts. Even something simple like, “Thank you very much for your feedback, I appreciate the time you took to read my work” is great.

                If you’re looking for a feedback buddy, maybe try pairing up in the comments or reblogging this post! There’s a great community of writers here, don’t be afraid to reach out.

                Good luck!

How to Survive the Editing Process

Writing a first draft takes so much of your time and energy. When you finish something, celebrate your accomplishment! It’s proof of your creativity and hard work.

If you want people to read your work, then it’s time to edit.

Editing can seem scary. Daunting. Confusing.

Use these tips to get started.

1. Take a Break from Your Work

It’s so important to let your brain reset after finishing any story. Close your draft and spend the next few days or weeks doing other hobbies. When you feel ready to return with a newly energized, distanced perspective, you’ll get your best editing work done.

2. Start With Developmental Editing

Writers often think that they have to start editing line by line, looking for grammar and spelling issues. While you’re free to do that, you’re likely going to add and remove plenty of content before your final draft is done. 

Instead, start with developmental editing. Read through your work and take notes about how the larger plot points are working or not working. Does each chapter move your characters through each point on your plot outline or your visualized storyline?

This step may involve adding new scenes or removing others. It can also mean reworking old scenes so they’re less wordy, more descriptive, more actionable, or whatever you feel like is missing.

Take notes about plot holes too. You don’t have to fix them on your first read-through, but note where they’re happening and why they’re holes. You can return in your second read-through to address them.

You can also break your developmental editing into questions, like:

3. Save and Start a Second Draft

After reading through your manuscript and noting the things above, create a copy for your second draft and start working on your notes. It’s good to have a separate second copy in case you want to include something from the original draft later on or just want to compare where you story started/how it ended up.

Again, you’re not supposed to worry about line work at this point. Focus on bigger-picture story issues like plot mechanics, how scenes work/don’t work, plot holes, and your theme(s).

Reminder: there’s no timeline for getting these steps done. Work when you have the energy and take breaks when you don’t. Your manuscript will stay right where you save it.

4. Reread Your Work

When you’ve worked through your list of notes, make a copy of your manuscript and start Round 3. Reread your story and start a new list of bigger-picture notes as needed. This time, the list should be shorter or include new notes that you didn’t catch before. They may also include notes for new scenes you just added.

The point of this reread is to make sure that your manuscript still works. Your plot shouldn’t have any holes, it should flow smoothly, and it should be engaging. 

Here’s a key concern for many writers: how do you edit your story without getting away from your original intentions?

Keep your eyes locked on why you write your original draft. If you make edits/scene removals or additions with that purpose or theme in mind, your story will stay on track. It may eventually look completely different than what you originally wrote (if that’s your editing journey), but the heart of it will remain the same.

Try posting your story’s purpose or theme on a sticky note attached to your monitor.

You could also write the theme in your document’s header so it appears on every page.

5. Save and Start a Fourth Draft

Yes, it’s time for another new copy that’s your official fourth draft.

Remember—you can still walk away and return to your work later! Burnout won’t result in the story you’ve been working so hard to create. Get some sleep, see some friends, enjoy your other hobbies. You’ll come back ready to go.

The fourth draft is another chance to read through your work and ensure that everything works. Your chapters should get your characters closer to your theme/purpose with each page. The scenes should flow, not repeat information, and keep you engaged.

When you have a small list of edits or none at all, it’s time to start line work.

The spell check feature of any word processing software is a lifesaver, but it’s also not perfect. You’re going to have sentence structures that spell check deems incorrect when it actually works for your writing style or character. You’ll have fake names you made up that spell check wants to change.

If you use spell check, proceed slowly. Read every sentence with a flagged issue to make sure it’s a good or bad suggestion.

You can double your line work by combing through it by yourself. Print your story and grab a highlighter or use the highlight feature on your computer. Note linework issues that you can fix with a quick edit when you get a chance, like:

6. Send Your Work to Beta Readers

Repeat the saving, making a copy, and editing as many times as you want. When you feel like you’ve got your strongest draft yet, you can send it to beta readers.

How you define beta readers depends on your specific situation. You may have a few writing friends who know the craft well and will read your work with a professional eye. You might have a family member or best friend who doesn’t know about the craft of writing but always reads your work.

There are also places like Reddit threads and Facebook groups where people volunteer as beta readers.

The primary reason to get fresh eyes on your work is to get notes from someone who hasn’t been working on the content for months or years. 

Their advice might not always be usable, but it’s still an important part of editing. Your beta reader might suggest points where they lost interest because your pacing slows down or point out places where you described your protagonist as having long hair when they have short hair during the rest of the story.

You’ll know which suggestions are actionable and which aren’t based on who’s speaking and how it resonates with your story’s purpose. You’ll probably get better advice from other writers who have been through editing before, but that doesn’t mean their advice will always be correct.

Check in with your story’s purpose or theme before taking action on a beta reader’s notes.

When Should You Stop Editing?

One of the final battles during your editing experience will be recognizing when you can stop working on your manuscript.

There will always be moments where you could think of a new scene or a new way to rewrite a scene. That doesn’t mean you have to!

Ask yourself these questions to finish your editing when your story is strongest:

Question 1: Have I Worked Through the Most Essential Plot Mechanics?

A finished manuscript doesn’t need more structural work. But structural, I mean that you’ll be at peace because your manuscript:

Question 2: Are My Edits Improvements or Are They Inconsequential?

You could spend a lifetime swapping character names, adjusting your world map, or revising how you describe locations. You might like your edits better, but they aren’t vital to your story’s plot or character development. If there’s no substantial improvement with your edits, you’re likely done with your manuscript.

-----

Editing can be tricky at first, but using steps like these will help you whack through the densest parts of the work. Take your time, give yourself space to rest, and you’ll create the story you’ve been working so hard to finish!

6 Things You Can Do If You Can’t Afford An Editor

Here are 6 things you can do to prepare your manuscript →

Find Beta Readers: Find bookish friends who are willing to beta read for you. While this won’t help with line editing (unless they happen to be editors), it will certainly help with developmental edits regarding plot, characters, pacing, and readability! To maximize their help, provide a list of specific questions/concerns that they can give feedback on.

Perform More Focused Edits: Rather than going into each edit thinking you’ll cover everything, set specific goals for each edit. For example, go into your earlier edits with developmental goals, such as tidying up character arcs or extraneous subplots. This will help focus your attention so each problem is being solved methodically.

Pay For What You Can: Maybe you can’t afford multiple edits, but you can afford one. Decide what your book needs most—developmental, copy, or line editing—and go from there. Or, if you’re aiming for traditional publishing but want to polish up your work before you query, hire someone to edit the first couple of chapters that you plan on submitting to agents.

Join a Writing Group: Similar to finding beta readers, this will help with developmental edits. It will also help you immensely during the actual process of writing! You can join The Plottery’s discord group chat through the link in bio!

Review Previous Edits: If you’ve had previous work edited, see if any of the notes are recurring issues in your writing that might apply to your current work. For example, maybe your editor told you that you have a tendency to tell not show. This would be something to look out for while editing your current project.

Save: I know you probably want feedback right away, but it’s well worth saving up for an editor. They’re an investment to improve, not just the quality of your current project, but your writing in general. Think of it as any other craft tool; it’s like saving up for a new laptop as a writer or a tablet if you’re a digital artist.

The Difference Between Drafting and Editing

When you create the first version of your novel—it is usually called your first draft. It’s not perfect and you’re not “done” with your novel, but drafting and writing are essentially the same thing. Redrafting and editing are similar processes, but they’re not the same. Here are a few differences between drafting and editing.

Drafting

After you’re finished with the first draft of your novel, you’re most likely going to spend some time redrafting. That means you’re going to create a 2nd draft, a 3rd draft, and other subsequent drafts that you feel are necessary. There are a few things you should focus on when you work on redrafting your novel:

Redrafting is when you start to shape the ideas and thoughts you put on paper during your first draft. This is the time you can create the novel you really want and you can flesh out your ideas. Don’t be afraid to drastically change what you’ve written if you think that will make it better. It often requires distance from your work for a while before you can begin. You need to look at your work objectively (or as objectively as you can).

Editing

Once you’re done redrafting, which will fix many of your plot problems and flesh out your novel (or cut it down to size), the editing process will be in full effect. I suppose it’s not wrong to refer to redrafting as part of the editing process, but when you’re redrafting you’re really still writing. You’re still shaping your novel and making additions to the plot. It helps to look at them differently. Here’s what you should focus on when you’re editing.

Editing is difficult and it might need to go through your novel a few times before you catch your mistakes. It’s a painstaking process that requires time and attention. It might not be as fun as writing or redrafting, but it’s still a part of the process. Once you get the hang of it and find a flow that works for you, it will become much easier.

-Kris Noel

One of the books I read last month had 2 characters with very similar names. And it got messy. You could tell the moment the author realized they were in deep because 30% thru the book everyone starts addressing one character by their last name.

I hate to be so blunt but—why even bother? Why not just change the character's name and skip all this confusion? Nobody ever addressed them by their last name. Hell the other character didn't ever get a last name.

Listen homie, I know you wrote yourself into this hole but there's a ladder right THERE.

Man, this is so easy to do, especially if you spend so much time tying your book together, you forgot to lean back and take a long look. This especially happens if you don't ever read your work out loud. I spent two drafts having two characters who worked together named, let's say, Carrie and Carol, and it did not click to me that should be changed until well into the polishing stages because to me, they were two different people. To the reader, they were characters with similar motives who interacted with a lot, and it would have been hell. When it doubt, switch it out.

A Quick Guide to Varying Sentence Starters

One of the things that really winds me up about my own writing is looking back and seeing a multitude of sentences beginning with “I” or “And” or “But”. I’m a messy first-drafter as it is and I do a lot of line edits, but it’s still takes up a significant portion of my time going back to change things. 

So, I’m here today to share with you the ways I try to vary my sentence starters and some tips and tricks for drafting and edits” 

-.-.-.-

We all know why it’s important to vary your sentence structure, and by extent, your sentence starters. Besides obvious intentional things such as creating tension, or specific mood/tone/atmosphere, we should be aiming to vary how we start sentences to keep the reader engaged and not it being repetitive.

This is especially important if you, like me, write in first person and begin a lot of sentences with things like “I was” or “I am” etc. Or if you have a habit of beginning sentences with characters’ names. But what other options do we have? Here are five general categories that I like to use:

ING WORDS Coughing, she pushed her way through the blaze.  Smiling, he leaned in for a kiss. 

SIMILIES (and other techniques) Like the chattering of a typewriter, their eyes flittered over the group in front.  Sweeping in like a dove, she cut through the awkward conversation.

PREPOSITION (beside, near, with, across, around, out, at, in, etc.)  On the starter’s whistle, I pushed forward.  Under the heavy fog, the streetlamp glowed valiantly 

CONNECTIVE (Because, but, and, despite, after, before, etc.) After he left, I slipped the dagger back into its brace.  But I wasn’t about to give in now.  ED WORDS Distracted, she let the ice cream fall from her hands.  Stunned by his words, they stopped in their tracks. 

.-.-.-.

Obviously you can make these examples much more complex and attuned to your own styles! There are lots of other ways you can vary your sentence openers, these are just what I personally use - so hopefully you can get some use of them! 

.-.-.-.

Hints and Tips!

.-.-.-.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this guide and/or found it useful!

If you’d like to request a particular guide, please pop into my inbox and leave a request!

I’m sure this was meant by OP, but this is often about moving around the parts of a sentence that already exist (as opposed to adding filler words). My first draft would be (to take one of the examples) “She pushed her way through the blaze, coughing, and continued forward to find her goal.” But shortening the sentence and moving the words around, you can more intentionally focus on specific aspects of the sentence. 

And the first time I read it over, it’ll sound unnatural because that’s not how I tend to talk. Coming back after a few days, I’m better able to appreciate how it tightens everything up.

Like with any writing advice, it’s not required but is one tool you can choose to make the narrative less “flat.” 

Great tip to keep in mind. Thanks, OP.

Never delete your words

Every word you’ve ever written is worthy.  Everything you’ve ever written can serve a purpose.  I know the delete button is tempting, but don’t do it!  You might regret it some day.  Instead of deleting, do the following:

1. Revise

Can you make your words work with a few simple changes? Give yourself some distance. Move to a different scene and come back to the one you’re not happy with.  Has your opinion changed?  A first draft is never the final, so don’t expect the first thing you write to be perfect.

2. Re-use

If you can’t make your words work for the scene you’re working on, save them for later!  Another scene, or a whole other book, might be just the right fit for what you’ve written.

3. Learn

No matter how bad you think your words are, they represent a learning opportunity. Analyse them to find out what works, what doesn’t, and why, or simply save them to see how you’ve improved. People aren’t born with the talent to write, they practice. Seeing how your style changes over the years can be just as informative as what you’ve written.

Writing Tip

The joy of editing can be discovered in finding new and better ways to say things you thought you had already said.

I always thought that I hated editing. That I hated second drafts. It turns out that I always moved from project to project so fast that I never really had the chance to sit down and work on a second draft. Well, I am now entrenched deeper in a second draft project than I have ever been before, and I have learned that, to my surprise . . . I actually really enjoy the editing phase! I am enjoying writing my second draft!

My disdain from editing as a younger writer always stemmed from pride and perfectionism. I didn’t like the idea of second drafts because I wanted to put the time and thought and care and creativity into saying it the right way from the very beginning. It turns out that even with such agony, a rough draft is never anything more than a rough draft.

In the years since, my opinions on “shitty first drafts” have reversed. My battles with writer’s block have convinced me that the only way to finish most drafts is to just put SOMETHING down until you reach the end, no matter how bad it is, and then suck it up and edit later. And let me tell you . . . I have had more fun editing my first draft and creating my second draft than I ever expected. And it’s because of this writing tip I am sharing today.

All that pride and perfectionism I used to agonize over in the rough draft, I am now discovering to greater effect in the second. I left almost an entire year between completing my shitty first draft and editing my second, and that distance allowed me to get my head out of the clouds and actually examine the writing critically. The result is that I have found so much unexpected joy in the process of reading old writing and then being struck with the thought, “You know what? A year ago, I wrote this because this is how I thought this scene was supposed to go, but now I see that it would be so much better if it went like THIS!” I have managed to find joy even in re-writing entire chapters because of the joy that I have found in discovering the better version of something you already wrote. I highly recommend it.

I have this nebulous idea that the Marie Kondo method actually applies really well to editing the first complete draft of a story and I just...could write a whole essay about it but that might be all there is to it? Going through part by part and asking if this sparks joy and dropping it mercilessly into the discard doc if it doesn't???

Not to derail anything, but I I literally never even thought of having "discard docs." Like, I'm always so sad and hesitant to not include pieces of my story because I don't want to get rid of it. Yeah, I have draft docs, but its hard for me to actually remove stuff from finished products. Idk if this idea was already public knowledge and I'm just slow on the uptake, because I know lots of writers will include removed bits from one story into another, but I just never thought about the process?

Anyways I will be making discard docs now

Not at all! Having a separate document for discards passages, rather than deleting them, is a common tool but it's just that, a tool, and with creative writing being quite commonly a self-taught discipline it's not at all uncommon for even "common" tools to not be known by everyone, y'know?

But to wax poetic about the discard doc for a second, whenever I start a story of any length, I'll create a second "notes" document which is a scratch pad and a dumping ground for any passages I end up cutting. Sometimes I'll even toss as little as a half a sentence in there rather than delete it entirely because I might come back and realize the first version of what I wrote was the best and most visceral, while later versions I tried were too tell-y, for example, and boom! First version is still there, in the discard doc, rather than deleted.

Discard docs can be a marvelous tool for editing, as they allow you to trim down your main draft of the manuscript without the pain of actually losing what you've written (and, IMO, if you're going for a daily word count like for NaNoWriMo, those words absolutely SHOULD count, you wrote them after all, just because they don't end up in the finished product doesn't mean they aren't valuable for the goal of writing the story!). They also allow you to experiment a bit with what you put in or take out to see which version you like better. Best of all, maybe you hit a passage later in the story and realize the phrasing that didn't fit earlier fits REALLY well here, well, there it is in your discard doc!

Seriously, discard docs are the absolute BEST, I'm a writerly pack rat who won't delete anything, and if you're at all like me I highly, highly recommend them!

How to Self-Edit Without Being Overwhelmed

How many times has self-editing distracted or made a mess in your drafts? It happens to the best of us. NaNo guest Elzevera has prepared a guide to help you conquer your self-editing tendencies and do it in a more productive, efficient way.

If you consider self-editing a necessary evil you need to get over with as quickly as possible, you are not alone. Most writers heave in despair at the thought. Not to mention the crippling fear of not being good enough.

But self-editing can be an empowering experience that leaves you bursting with pride instead of wallowing in the darkest corner of your mind.

No idea how? That’s what I’m here for.

Keep reading

Step by Step Plan: Editing Your Own Writing

So you have your first draft done. You must be thinking, what now? Editing of course! Here is a step by step plan to edit your draft to A+ perfection! 

~ Step #1 ~ Rewrite

Rewrite the whole damn thing. This step is completely optional but I definitely recommend it if you want the best product possible. If you like your first draft better, you can always go back to it.

Keep reading