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    How to Edit a Novel
    How to Edit a Novel
    How to Edit a Novel
    Ebook67 pages58 minutes

    How to Edit a Novel

    By Charlotte Nash

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    About this ebook

    Knowing what's wrong with your book's first draft is one thing. Having a process to fix it is another. The PAPER method is a complete system for editing a novel that allows creativity to flourish while taking control of your project. Lose fear and panic, meet your deadlines, know what to do, where to do it, and when you'll be finished.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCharlotte Nash
    Release dateFeb 29, 2016
    ISBN9781524231156
    How to Edit a Novel
    Author

    Charlotte Nash

    Charlotte Nash began stealing her mother’s Jilly Cooper novels at the age of thirteen and has been enthusiastic about romance ever since. She started writing after graduating from medical school, and her romantic stories set in amazing places are now published around the world. She lives with her family and chickens in a cozy cottage on the east coast of Australia.

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      Book preview

      How to Edit a Novel - Charlotte Nash

      How to edit a novel

      by Charlotte Nash

      First edition

      About the author

      Charlotte Nash is the author of four Australian small-town romances: bestselling Ryders Ridge, Iron Junction, Crystal Creek, and forthcoming The Horseman; and speculative fiction short stories, including two short-listed for the Aurealis and Ditmar awards. She has degrees in engineering and medicine, and her work as an engineer brings project management experience to novel editing. She is currently a PhD candidate at The University of Queensland, where she also teaches manuscript editing in some semesters. charlottenash.net | charlienash.net

      Introduction

      I wrote this book because when I was a very early career writer, I found lots of information about what might be wrong with my novel, but very little on how to convert that knowledge into edits on the page. Over time, I developed an approach that was methodical, thorough, and, importantly, let me know when my novel edit was done. It also turned editing for me from something I hated into something I love.

      It surprised me when I started teaching that most writers weren't using a method for their own edits. Someone told me writers are generally bad at organisation – I don't believe that, but if you're not approaching your edit with some method, the odds of failure (including just not finishing) are high.

      I'm not going to waste your time with a long introduction. You want to get to editing. So, what follows are five steps that I've acronymed PAPER. Do the steps in order. Heed the advice, and get that novel edited properly so it can go where you intend (self-publish, agent or publisher submission) in the best shape possible. Good luck.

      Before you start

      The PAPER method stands for:

      P – Preparation

      A – Analysis

      P – Planning

      E – Execution

      R – Review

      A glossary of terms is in Appendix A, and one-page summary of the whole process is given in Appendix B. Before moving to Preparation, please read the few things below so you don't get lost.

      The editing hierarchy

      Many early-career writers think that editing is making sentences nicer. This is a huge mistake, and will waste your time. Editing exists in a hierarchy as follows:

      Structural editing – addresses the story-level issues, such as plot, character, narrative structure, setting, tone, consistency, and other 'big-picture' issues.

      Copyediting – addresses sentence-level expression, such as word choice, sentence style and structure, and consistency of small details.

      Proofreading – checking for errors in spelling, grammar and typography only.

      They always, ALWAYS, go in order, and the PAPER method is mostly about structural editing, which is the one that makes the most improvement, but is often hardest to manage. Copyediting and proofreading is also covered in the 'Review' step.

      Editing is hard at first, but it gets easier

      The first time you edit properly (using PAPER or anything else) it's likely to feel daunting, difficult or frustrating. This is normal. Persist. It gets better each time, and you'll begin to achieve a mastery where you can combine steps and adapt them to your individual style. To help align your expectations, I've provided a guide for how long different writing and editing tasks take me in Appendix H. I consider myself still an early-career writer, with about 10 years' experience all up.

      The synergistic thinking needed to write or edit – thinking about the interplay of characters, plot, rhythm, setting, and themes, etc. –

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