Writing is the fun and creative part, while editing is the crucial step in the craft. One must consider every word, sentance, paragraph, and line of dialogue while editing, and they all have to be polished if anyone is ever going to consider publishing the novel.

After the first edit, one will have readers make suggestions and then edit again. Then, one might have a critique group help and thus we have another edit. Finally a professional edit takes place and the novel is rewritten again. Now a story might be ready to send to editors and agents (and they will probably have you edit it at least once more). The amazing part is that as one improves his/her writing, the last edit that felt so good might seem amaturish a year later. That’s when you know you’re working and improving.

I’m 66 pages into the first edit of my second novel. I will be done editing hopefully by next summer. Then I’ll have the third book finished and begin a first edit on it. If writing is your passion, editing had better be too.