I hope you enjoyed the first part of this editing series! Don't forget to go grab your free editing guide to follow along with this series over on my website at: heartbreathings.com/how-to-edit-your-novel/
I am HERE for step 2! So many writers think self-editing is just shoring up their sentences and word choice but you totally nailed the big-picture questions.
YES! If I let my novel rest, it dies. I need to get it done while I'm still interested! And I use Natural Reader all the time when I need to read for my critique group in a hurry. I use Grammarly with Google Docs, though it's technically in beta. I've been using Grammarly since college, and I like it. It really helps me with passive voice! This was such a great video. I've still yet to get through a round of editing, but I can't give up! Thank you for giving me some concrete steps because I need that!
I use Grammarly in Google Docs! I also use Hemingway editor ( I have to copy and paste into that) Between the two they seem to catch most stuff and Hemingway Editor gives you a readability level and tells you if you have overly complicated sentences, overuse adverbs, etc.
I am SO excited!! You're doing this series exactly when I need it and when you have the time, I'd love more videos going in depth into the first couple steps
Thank you so much Sarra! I feel so blessed that you have taken the time out of your busy schedule to put this together for us 🥰 I’m still on my first rough draft but I can’t wait to be at the point where I can follow your editing process. Your teaching is always so fun and informative and you are a beautiful lady inside and out!
This was AWESOME!! And I'm so happy to hear someone say they don't wait for a "mandatory" month before starting their edits. That never works for me. Luckily for me, I'm about to start my first round of edits for my second book, so this was just in time. Can't wait for the whole series.
Chick, you are AWESOME! I spend so much time looking through RU-vid for good advice and there's an insane amount of textbook regurgitation. It's boring. It's general. It's not useful to someone who knows about the industry. What you provide us priceless information from a very genuine, real-world perspective. It's freaking great and I always turn to your channel! I am incredibly appreciative of the work you do
Great tips! I think all of them are really good - but have to say that I agree on listening to your story (while reading a hard copy). I've found my eyes tend to see what I intended to write. But combining the two things is just amazing at finding what actually wound up on the page.
Thank you for the natural reader tip. It's come in handy for working through some of my tougher scenes and let me actually hear it as someone else would. This is a very useful program!
I know im later here, but this is great! I would love more. I'm a new writer and I already see that I need to make some revisions to get rid of some tropes that are overdone. I'd like to see a video on how to do major revisions that change the story and the structure.
This was incredibly helpful! As you continue with TDAVS I’d love editing vlogs or seeing how you implement some of these steps, step 1 in specific! Thank you for this fantastic information!!!!
I've been sitting on a first draft for six months with no idea where to start. This video and the guide I downloaded from you promise to be so helpful. Yes. I planned and plotted beforehand but it all changes during the first draft as my characters told me what they would actually do, and new characters introduced themselves. So yeah, lots of work ahead, and this will help. I'll let you know how I get on with it soon. Thank you!
Thank you so much for making this. I've been in editing hell since February and it sounds like I've been doing everything in backwards order. I've researched editing extensively but everyone seems to differ on when to do what, and yours seems to make the most sense. I've joined critique groups, which have basically been doing line edits, then I got feedback from betas and had to rewrite a bunch of sections (which means I need line edits again), and I still feel like the story itself isn't where it needs to be (I'm familiar with story structure, but I'm also a pantser and this is my first novel, written out of order, so it's probably more choppy than it should be). I would definitely love to hear more about the first few stages of editing where you outline and make sure everything fits coherently before moving on to other edits.
OMGOsh this makes so much sense. I always get caught up in the self-edit and never seen to finish it....I get stuck....blarg...I would love a video on either step 1 or 2 :)
Text to speech for catching errors is awesome! I was amazed at how much it caught the first time I tried it, and now I do it with pretty much everything I write (even emails!)
this is very informative. i'm not a novel writer but i love literature and like to learn new skills. it's very interesting to see what elements are involved in writing great works of literature and the research the writer has to do to arrive at the final master piece
First off you look so beautiful girlfriend. Second thank you so much for taking the time for creating this new series. I will be studying this. Stay blessed and always amazing. Love from Detroit, Michigan (Tamara) P.S. I agree with you on becoming disconnected with your story when you take time away from it. I put my story away for a few weeks and year's later here I am. True story lol
Thanks so much for this, Sarra! I am about to start the editing process in a couple of weeks and I so appreciate your info and helpful guide. I would be SO DOWN for additional expansion on the topics you cover in this video-but I’m way more down for newborn pictures when your little girl arrives! So no pressure 😉🤰🏽🤱💫
Loved this video! Also, I am totally down for a more in-depth look at editing later this fall or as it works out. Please, please make that series!!! 😁💖
Thank you for doing this video! I'm in my third or fourth round of edits. I've lost count at this point. I stepped away from it for a long time because life happens, but I'm hopeful I can complete it now.
Hi Sarra, I just finished P&T. I finished my draft years ago and I've been procrastinating on the editing phase because I just did not know where to start. I was told I needed to flesh out my characters and lengthen the novel and work on the time line. It's a mystery. This series is going to help a lot. I will finish this series and get working on the edits and before long I will have a working novel to apply the things I learned in P&T to! Thank you for the knowledge and push to get me going!
this is great! thank you for doing this. I finished a novel last year and did several revisions but I never knew when to be done. I wanted to be traditionally published and I kept reading that agents wanted a novel that was "the best it could be". I got so frustrated because What Does That Even Mean! Thank you so much for answering that question for me. I have since started the rough draft of a new novel and I will definitely use your tips when I get to the revision procession on the new one.
Thank you, I do most of these steps, but find myself changing the story with every pass. OCD at work! Trying so hard to stop doing that. My first drafts are mostly dialogue, I find I get to know my charters pretty well doing that.
Totally agree, I don't rest either. Although I will say, I've been working on the ending for a month, and this week I started to read aloud, and forgot some scenes. Ha ha I consider my book resting when it's in the editor's hands.
Great video as always. Step 2 is killing me and I've been on it for a year. I've identified all of my story problems, its fixing them that is my problem. It all feels so overwhelming. I wish there was a kanban board for the editing steps.
I've been restructuring my outline as I write my draft. I also put the beats (I use Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes since I'm a romance writer) in my restructured outline. I'm almost done with my first draft, and love your editing process and will use some of your suggestions. Love your videos!
I would love an expanded version of these steps, if/when you have time. Step One is one I've done for the last few years - it's helpful after nanowrimo, since whatever I've outlined prior to starting has gone off the rails by the end - assuming I've outlined! It's also useful to see where there are unnecessary scenes, or repeated actions among characters. The same character does not need to have the same conversation in three different dinner scenes! I'll definitely give this video a rewatch or two, as I get into summer writing mode. I do have one question, but I'm not sure if it's an editing or writing question: what happens if, when you get to the end of a piece of writing - say, novel length - you start questioning your POV choice. Do you keep going through edits with the current POV, or do you try rewriting a section in the POV you now think your story would work better in, to see if your instincts are correct?
This is a tricky question, and it's one I don't actually have good experience with! I would say the best thing to do would be to try rewriting or revising the first chapter in the new POV and see if it flows better. If it does, I'd probably just go through the whole novel as it is first and change the POV before I started doing the nit-picking of the line edits. Things might change as you're changing the POV and the tone and flow will change, so better to get it switched over first, I would say!
I watch a lot of these. I hate writing, positively HATE it. GOD gave me a story nine yrs ago, and I've been sitting on it all this time. I wrote it mostly in 2014, but I am feeling led to put it out there now. I "skimmed" through your editing guide. Glad to know that I've done all that you suggested. Thanks for the affirmation. Good luck with your writing. My "writing career" is winding down. It was a calling, not a joy. It was a chore, not a hobby. It's pretty much done now. Keep your eyes out for the words LOVE'S MUSES, because GOD is going to take it places I can't even imagine, and I won't be here when He does. My years are winding down. I've have less than five yrs to live. I'm glad. I'm tired. It's been a long hard life.
Just finished the first draft of my novel. Gotta get it through beta, but I did do a basic edit with Grammarly. Now for feedback so I can follow the 20 step guide I wrote to follow so not to get lost.
I LOVE your series videos, and I'm am so pumped for this one. I have a teensy question though: Where do you keep track of the loose threads and subplots that you weave through your novels? Say you lay out a teensy easter egg in book 1 that doesn't come up again for another book or so, do you have a place where you put those things in your outline or is that something completely different? Do you even keep track of those?
Good question! All of that stuff goes in my plotting notebook and my online wiki. When I start a new book in the series, one of the first things I do is make a list of all the threads that need to be carried through so that I keep them in mind as I'm plotting. I've had several requests for a video or a series of videos on how to plan out a long series, so I've got it on my list but it won't be until fall after my baby is born into I get to it. It's coming, though!
This is great! Another thorough lesson. When did you set yourself up in an actual legal business; after book 5, 10, 20? I know it may be different in every state. And your advice "from Author to reader mode" is there any chance somewhere in your Wonder Woman future, you might consider setting up a critique partner "match" group? Or is that something you encourage thru your HB90 class? Yes please more extensive editing videos when you can. Thanks Sarra!
I set myself up as a legal business from before Book 1. I didn't switch to an S-Corp until maybe Book 4, I believe, which was a bit of a hassle. I haven't thought of a critique group matching service, but I will keep it in mind!
thanks for the video. Do you recommend finishing a book from outline to publishing before starting another? Or... what's your writing/editing/publishing rhythm?
I really appreciate you saying that you don't put your manuscript away for a month before editing, because it causes you to lose connection with the story. I have trouble losing my passion and motivation if my focus gets interrupted. This tip may help me significantly :)
I can't remember which of your editing videos recommended it, but I just had to stop mid-edit and comment. THANK YOU for recommending naturalreaders.com. This is amazing. I've only done one passage, but I've already reworded several things that sound a little off, deleted some unnecessary words, and added words that my brain casually read over and didn't realize were missing. Plus it's really cool to hear my own book read out loud. I also love that you can pick different voices for the reader. Thank you so much for taking the time to make these videos.
That’s a good video Sarah, but couldn’t I not just send my book out straight away to a professional editor a M edit it or would it be better if I edit it myself?
Great video! If your plan is to write a trilogy and to have it complete before you start releasing them, do you think it's best to complete all three and then start editing or to edit after each one?
I have this exact same issue. My gut feeling at the moment is to get all the drafts done so I can add all the foreshadowing and hints about things needed for books 2 and 3. However, I know this can't be a long term solution. If the next series I write runs to be 6 to 10 books long, with the aim of building an anchor series. I wouldn't want to wait however many years it would take to write all 6 to 10 books before starting to put them out. So I think long term I will have to strengthen up my series plotting techniques.
These are great tips, thank you so much! One question I have - it seems to me like step six has the potential to point out areas that need more work within the story. Is there a reason you don’t do this step sooner, like after step 2/3? Thanks!!
You could always add an additional read-through after Step 3 to look at it from a reader's perspective if you wanted to add that in or feel that it would serve you better earlier on in the process! I personally just add this toward the end as the final pass, because I want the story to be as smooth and error-free as possible, so that I can truly read it as the readers will. If I do it sooner, I get distracted by errors or typos and can't fully sit down and read it as a polished story yet.
What sources do you recommend for seeking information regarding genre expectations? I think my themes would appeal most to New Adult readers, but am still a little unclear on the exact parameters of that genre. Thanks! :)
I pay for both a professional copy edit and a proofreader before I publish, but that wasn't the case when I first started and didn't have much of a budget. At the very beginning, I used critique partners and learned to self-edit, but after I started making some income, I went back and had the original books edited!
I'm the same way with my drafts--I can NEVER set them aside that long! I feel disconnected from my story, too. I don't know how my best friend/co-author does it! Funny story: Toward the end of 2018, I finished adding scenes and doing an overall edit of the novel we are writing. The plan was to pass the hard-copy draft over to her and let her do her edits, then we were both going to let it sit for a month. But. The moment she finished her edits, she texted me to let me know, and she added: "U can come get it now if u want to 😁" I was at her doorstep in less than five minutes. I didn't even get out of the car. She came out to my car and handed me the draft. I took it home...and by the next morning, I was nine chapters in! Now, the not so funny part of this story is I felt extremely guilty about how fast I was flying through the draft. I really wanted to take my time and pay attention to detail as much as possible. So I started over, trying to slow down...and still was back to Chapter 7 in just a couple of days. I felt guilty. I felt like I was "doing it wrong" because I was going so fast. I was afraid I was missing things that needed to be changed. I was supposed to be adding in setting descriptions, beefing up other descriptions, watching for inconsistencies and awkwardness, etc...and I was barely doing any of that. But no matter how hard I tried to slow down, I just could not do it. I was excited by the changes my bestie had made. They were so good! Plus I couldn't help getting lost in the story itself. I am in love with the characters! So, while I may have been going too fast through the edits, I was having a total blast with them. I felt energized, which is a big thing for me (I suffer from depression, so anything that makes me happy and gives me energy is a good thing). Now, several months later, I'm still going through round after round after round of edits, some hard-copy, some on-screen. My co-author is supposed to get her turn to edit as soon as I'm done with this current round on hard-copy, but she is busy working on a solo book, so I may get even more time with it depending on where she is in her WIP by the time I'm done. I've come to accept the fact that I cannot edit slowly, nor can I let the draft sit for any length of time without feeling disconnected. What works best for me is repetition--as soon as I finish one read-through, I'll start all over again and keep going. I have found that each time I go through the draft, I have caught something that missed my attention earlier. Alternating between hard-copy and on-screen editing has helped, and so has reading it aloud (which I think I'll do again this time around). Currently, I'm doing a hard-copy edit. This time around, I may do things a little differently, considering that after I printed the first half of the draft, my printer ran out of ink, and so when I finished editing that first half, I was forced to let it sit until I could get more ink. Now that I actually have it, though, I still haven't printed the other half yet. But since the disconnect happened (as it always does when I let it sit), I have decided to start over and go through the first half again, then print the second half when I finish. That way I can get back into the flow of it. Ugh, here I go again, turning a RU-vid comment into a blog post. Sorry about that. It's a bad habit of mine. I forget where I am and just start blogging on somebody's video. If you've read this far, congrats, you win the award for most dedicated comment reader of all time. 😂😂😂
@KarenTrinkaus Did you get it to work? I can't seem to recreate the error, as it brings up the PDF for me on my end. If you still can't get it to download, just email me at sarra@heartbreathings.com and I'll send it to you directly.
@@HeartBreathings Yes! It came up yesterday. Tried multiple accounts on multiple computers, dunno what happened. Just glad I have it. Your content is always so helpful.
Thanks Sarra for your wonderful videos. Please can you help educate us about publishing in china. Information on the Chinese market is scarce. I learnt they have good platforms like @t, JD etc. Please can you educate us because china appears to be a big market that can boost sales. Thanks
Why not just write it on Microsoft Word in the first place? Why bother with Google Docs? I use OneDrive and it makes it accessible anywhere I can log in to my Microsoft account.
