I finished a first draft of a novel during lock down but went way over budget on the word count and now have a very heavy editing job on my hands. How did you do? Did you find it easy to write when you had the time or did you procrastinate? I'm not saying I didn't. And I obviously wasn't paying attention to structure or it wouldn't have got away from me like it did. Novels are hard! But I love the pay-off of a shiny new first draft ready for the real work of editing. Now I just need to get locked down again to edit it!
Victoria, I am editing my novel at the moment. I suggest that would-be authors landmark their novel to ease the editing process. By that I mean make a list of each plot twist in each chapter. Ensure that each plot twist stands out and does not lose its affect by being submerged by the ongoing storyline, and sub-plot, if there is one. The danger of having to much going on in a chapter is that no single idea stands out. Fix structural issues first to ease the editing process.
I hope that helps.
I find I need to have the whole book in my head when I edit so as not to edit out passages I need, which means I need several days in a row. I've just taken holiday from work so I can edit!
I'm trying to be ruthless, Elsie. It's not easy. I never just delete, I deadfile. That way, if I do accidentally take something I need, I can go back to the deadfile and retrieve it. Plus, it doesn't feel as harsh as deleting!
Hi Victoria. It's so easy to get carried away, the times I've done it is unbelievable. My problem is that when I get a character that's really interesting I tend to over write about them. It's great when the story and the character roll along you can write forever about them. But that's how easy it is to get side tracked. I usually go back as far as I need to and eliminate as much as I can that isn't relevant. Find all the stuff that isn't needed and delete. Be ruthless. Hope this helps. Elsie