And I thought I knew how to edit (laughs at self). The truth is that I had no idea. I was afraid to cut words and rewrite and instead focused on being grammatically correct and proper word choice (which I still wasn’t too good at). Now I know better.

Ten chapters into my latest edit (two months of work) I have cut and rewritten at least 1000 words per chapter. If this trend continues I will have rewritten about thirty-seven percent of the novel. Add in a reader edit and a final polish and I could easily rewrite forty percent of a story I thought was complete a few months ago. A few tips if you are interested:

1. Read a good book on editing or fiction writing in general. Revision and Self-Editing by James Scott Bell is a good resource (his book on plot and structure is also recommended). Thanks, But This Isn’t For Us by Jessica Page Morrell is also a fun and enlightening read which explains the major reasons for rejection.

2. Read your favorite book(s) in the same genre and compare your amount of description, dialogue, internalization, and action. Notice the flow, the emotion, and how quickly it reads and compare it to your story. (I read The Lightning Thief and The Sorcerer’s Stone again)

3. Take the reader with you by SHOWING them the scenes and connecting them through the characters and all five senses.

4. DON”T be afraid to cut the extra words and unnecessary information.  You’re scared of harming your baby, I know, so save your original story as is and then start a new file with your cut story. This was my biggest stumbling block, but I took the plunge and so far my story is the better for it.

Good luck and take your time.