Since I'm into the deep edits portion of rewriting for book 4 in the Miller's Creek Novels, Pilgrimage of Promise, I thought I'd share my deep edits process with all of you who might someday be interested in writing a book. Every writer has their own way of doing things, so what I'm about to present is by no means the one tried-and-true way to do things. My advice is to find what works for you and go with it. (In fact, my process has been adapted and re-adapted from several different sources until I found the right combination to craft my lousy first draft into a reader-worthy story.)
Once I finish the rough draft of a novel, I take a week or so off to clear my head and get the feeling back in my, um...well, backside. Then for the first part of the editing process I do a quick read-through (at least two chapters a day depending on my schedule) and make small changes as I come across them. I read out loud to catch odd-sounding phrases, misspelled words, grammatical errors, and omitted words. This also helps me check the pacing and the cadence of the words.
I don't sweat this part of the process much since the main purpose of this read-through is to get a feel for the story's overall feel. To read a few general tips on the re-writing process, click HERE for an article I wrote earlier. (I recently went through this part of the process with Pilgrimage of Promise, book 4 in the Miller's Creek novels, and was teary-eyed when I finished. If my own books make me cry, I consider that a good thing.)
After this first read-through, I hit what I call "deep edits," where I check MANY different aspects of the story, one scene at a time. I have to admit to a love/hate affair with this part of novel writing. While I LOVE chipping chunks of marble off the lousy first draft to reveal the beautiful sculpture within, I HATE (and dread) the mind-numbing, hair-pulling, eye-crossing, head-banging, rump-numbing hours that it takes to pull it off. (I don't mean to discourage any of you newbie writers out there. Some authors actually enjoy this part of the process the most.)
Here's what I check for each and every scene in the story during the deep editing process:
GMC
I'm not talking cars here, but Goal, Motivation, and Conflict. I'm very careful about including this in my pre-writing process, so this is more of a double check to make sure that it comes through clear for the reader. For the Goal, I want an internal and external goal for the Point-Of-View character. The Motivation is why the character has these particular goals. Trust me, readers want to know WHY... The Conflict is something that is needed all throughout the scene, and I'll address this more later.
No-No Words
Every writer has pet words and phrases that if not controlled,can ruin a story. Some are cliche, some are not. Clue words can indicate a little rule-bending in the fiction-writing realm. While you can sometimes get away with bending the rules a bit, but it's usually better if you can re-write the passage to remove the offending words. I use the "Find" feature on Microsoft Word to locate the stinkers. (I'll do a post on these at a later time.) This is also where I check to make sure I have active rather than passive voice (another post for another day) and strong verbs and nouns (also another post).
Cause/Effect
This is one of those things that seems to get easier for me the longer I write, but when I do goof it up, the stage of deep edits is where I normally find the goofs. In human action and interaction, every move causes a reaction, which in turn causes another reaction. Call it cause and effect, motivation reaction units, whatever. Things happen in a logical sequence. If something feels off in your writing and you can't figure out what, pay close attention to this, even to the minutest detail.
Sequence
Also pay careful attention to sequence. Here's an example: if someone says something that really makes you mad, your first response will be visceral, which means you have no control over it. Your blood will boil, your cheeks will burn, your pulse will pound, etc. Next, you'll probably have a thought like: I can't believe he just called me that in front of everyone. After that you would probably have an action that shows your angst or attempt to calm down, such as rubbing a hand across your face, taking a deep breath, etc. Then you might say something out loud, perhaps something like: "Well, you're certainly welcome to your opinion."
If I write it like this, the sequence is all off:
"Well, you're certainly welcome to your opinion." She inhaled a deep breath, and her heart pounded. He'd just called her that in front of everyone.
It's much better to write it in the sequence in which it would most likely happen, like this:
Her heart pounded. He'd just called her that in front of everyone. She inhaled a deep breath. "Well, you're certainly welcome to your opinion."
(Yeah, pretty intimidating part of the process because of the fine details, but well worth the effort to bump your writing to the next level.)
Sensory Detail
Your story will be soooooo much better if you make sure to include all the senses. Why? Because it draws the reader into the story. When I read a book, I want to escape to the story world, and sensory detail is what makes a story world real to me. If that's what it takes to cement me in the story then I most definitely want to give that to my readers. For this part of the process I use the highlighters and text colors in my word processing program to do one scene at a time so I can look over the scene at a glance to make sure it has used all the senses. (I'm looking for a rainbow here, not one single color used over and over and over again.)
The easiest ones to hit are sight and sound. The most difficult are smell and taste. (Interestingly enough, it is these two senses that can generate memory, which is all the more reason to include them. I can't smell vanilla to this day without thinking of my grandmother.) Here's a graphic I use to remind me of what to mark on this pass through each scene:
A little caution is warranted here. Don't overdo the sensory detail. There is nothing more distracting than a menu of what the characters eat at every meal, a cacophony of sound that would rival any barnyard, and so many smells that I get a sinus infection just reading the book. ;) Remember, a little goes a long way. Make it natural to the scene.
Notice also that I included intuition/God's Presence here. Some people call it intuition. Others call it a premonition. Others say sixth sense. And for Christians, God's presence or Holy Spirit is very much a part of how we interpret the world around us. I also include sense of humor. (In my humble opinion, even the most serious novels need a little levity to give the reader a much-needed break.) Sense of space, time and motion are also marked here to make sure that I don't leave out these important details that the reader needs for the story to make sense.
Good Blend of Dialogue, Emotion, Internalization, Cues, and Description
This is probably the most helpful part of the process for me, and I picked it up from Margie Lawson's awesome Deep Editing class. I highly encourage all serious writers to take this class. It will propel your writing forward by miles! Margie's website is www.MargieLawson.com. I use color-coding here as well, looking for a rainbow of colors and making sure I break up big spans of one color to make the reading more enjoyable. (NOTE: Take it easy on the amount of emotion you include unless your aim is melodrama. If you save your emotional hits for only the most important parts, it will mean more.)
Other things I learned from Margie's class that are a part of my deep edits process are checking body language references and vocal characterizations to make sure that they're varied, (this helps me catch the overuse of rolling eyes and biting lips ;). I also try to use back-loading, rhetorical device, emotional hits, and hooks. Another thing I've added to the checklist for this section is conflict or tension on every page.
Well, that pretty much sums up my deep edits process. I find it strange that something I can summarize in one blog post is such a long, drawn-out process for me. Maybe it's because I'm on this side of the hill looking up, which makes the mountain look insurmountable! But I'll keep chipping away and eventualy turn that mountain into a molehill and that slab of marble into a work of art.
Happy Writing!
