Story Editing: What is it and how do you go about it?
Sharing a draft of your novel with anyone for the first time can be scary. The stress of waiting to hear back from your readers or editor, of worrying about what they might say, and wondering if your writing is ready to submit can take its toll.
So why would you share your work with anyone before you’ve revised your first draft, improved it, making sure it’s as good as you can make it before anyone else reads it?
You wouldn’t. That’s why you perform a story edit and rewrite.
What is a Story Edit?
A story edit is the first step in the self-editing process. I’m not talking about copyediting or proofreading. You can do that after you’ve completed your story edit.
Rewrite: to write (something) again especially in a different way in order to improve it or to include new information — Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Rewriting your first draft means analyzing your story from a high-level perspective and fixing any weak areas. You want to make sure that the story arc is well-structured, the scenes are tense, there are no plot holes, and you haven’t left any subplots unfinished at the climax.
While you perform a story edit, take a hard look at your characters.
- How often do they appear?
- What are their goals?
- What gets in the way of their goals?
Characters will drive the tension in your story, and tension is what keeps a reader reading.
Finally, the story edit should examine your settings.
- Do you make the most of your settings?
- How often do you use the same setting, and is it too often?
- Do your settings help with the tone of your scenes?
Settings are key to keeping your reader engaged, so don’t ignore them.
Where To Start Your Story Edit
Here are three questions to ask yourself when you review each scene and look for ways to improve it.
1. What is the purpose of this scene?
Defining the purpose of the scene first allows you to address other elements of the scene and test if they are in line with the purpose. A scene may have more than one purpose, but see if you can choose the most important one and then ask yourself does this help drive the story forward.
2. Who has the point of view?
Multiple points of view means the character who controls the POV for a scene changes from scene to scene. As a writer, you must be in control of this aspect. The generally accepted method is to have one POV character per scene. Switching POV mid-scene, also known as head-hopping, can jar the reader from the story.
3. Is the setting the best place for emotional impact?
When answering the question, think about who has the point of view for the scene and what makes them feel strong or vulnerable.
Do you have a character who is afraid of the dark? Imagine the character is about to have a confrontation with an employee. If the character feels confident being in his/her own office and you want the character to be in a position of strength, then use the office as a setting.
If you want the character to feel vulnerable during the confrontation, try locating him/her outside, at night, in an isolated parking lot. And make it very dark. The streetlight is broken. There is no moon. Maybe it’s windy, so a cry for help won’t be heard.
Tackle each question and rewrite each scene accordingly.
Are you ready to start your story edit?
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