Editing as an Indie Writer: Twitter Requested Topic

See that picture over there? Yeah, that's me. Well, my red hair is past my shoulders and I would never be caught dead wearing a green shirt, but the implied curse words, exasperated expression, and crumbled pieces of paper? Yeah, that's TOTALLY me when I'm editing.

I put out a call on Twitter for blog topics and ME Summer (@mesummerbooks) said: How to self-edit a story so well that it's as if it has been edited by a professional. #blogpostideaforMegg



So how do I edit as an indie author? Here's my process:

I write my novel, usually in 30 days (I like the NaNoWriMo method), and then I let it simmer for a few weeks. Then I print it out and edit by hand, with a red pen naturally. I enter all of those changes back into my document and retitle it Second Draft.

YAY! I'm done and ready to go to print!!!! Right? WRONG!

Then I send that copy out to various beta readers. As can you imagine, I have about a zillion writer friends. At this point I usually know what my novel's kryptonite is. Could be story, flow, timing, grammar, whatever. I choose beta readers specifically for their skill set. Some readers will be a beta on one book and not another. It's not because I don't like them anymore, it's simply because I know their skills and use them to my advantage.

Oubliette, for instance, just came back from four betas. You'd be surprised at the breadth of their comments. Except for a few missing words here and there, their comments were completely different! I print a fresh copy of my manuscript and I use my red ink pen to mark all of the corrections on that one copy. Then I enter all of those in my manuscript and save it as Fourth Draft.

YAY! I'm done and ready to go to print!!!! Right? WRONG!

Then I ship my book off to at least two people who proofread. I enter those mistakes into my text, read it one more time, and then it's off to print (well, after extensive formatting, but that's not relevant in this blog post).

I don't take editing lightly. In fact, editing takes far longer than the writing does. Writing takes 30 days, editing can take months. This is why Oubliette, which was originally supposed to release this month, was pushed back until the end of June. When I did my first round of edits, I slashed 10,000 words - one-fifth of my novel. Then I rewrote it. I refuse to release a product I'm not proud of. I know some readers were disappointed they had to wait an extra month to read Oubliette, but trust me, it's totally worth it.

Editing can make, or break, a novel's success. Never rush through it. Never.