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Your story, be it
novel, short story or novelette, is finished. Or is it? Before you send
it to a publisher, check firstly that your story makes sense!
Maybe
you read my article about The Final Draft. Well, before you reach that
stage there's this one to go through. It can be hard and you need to be
tough with yourself, castings an editor's eye - not that of a writer -
over your work. So what is there to look for when editing and how do
you go about it?
The first thing to do is to print your story
out onto paper. Don't ask me why but editing just doesn't seem to work
the same if you do it on your computer or word-processor. Then read your story. You might think this a waste of time - after all,
you wrote it! - but I assure you that you'll find mistakes, typos and a
host of other little mistakes.
They're easy to correct. Mark
them in pencil as you go along. When you have finished your read
through it's time to begin editing in earnest. You will have almost
certainly noticed plotting errors and the usual howlers present in
every first draft (I speak from experience!) but here's a rundown of
vital points to check off during the editing process.
1. Do your
characters behave as they should? Remember that, in fiction, people
seldom if ever act 'out of character' - if your character has changed,
this needs attention.
2. Do your characters react to each other
as they should? Events in your story may well change the feelings and
emotions your characters display towards each other. Do they mention
events that have happened to them within the story? Real people would -
your characters should follow suit.
3. Will it be obvious to the
reader what the characters are doing - and why they are doing it? This
needs to be made clear to the reader otherwise the 'thread' of the
story may be lost altogether, your reader will become confused - and
the story, for them, is over.
4. Do your characters react
believably to circumstances? Again, this goes back to character action
- don't have a character brush off a situation if their character sheet
says they would go berserk with rage at a given event - if this is
evident, your plotting needs to be looked at. Don't change your
character's reactions to paper over cracks in the plot!
5. Does
your story timeline run true? It's very easy to have someone in two
places at once if you're not in control of this critical thread. If you
have a sub-plot, or, worse still, several sub-plots running, this can
rapidly spiral out of control. Use a timeline record to help you
control event timing, i.e. '10 pm Monday - Jake and Sally at Harry's bar. Big Mike robbing bank.'
This ensures that Jake and Big Mike don't 'meet up' somewhere at that
hour!
Checking the above points will take time, effort and
dedication. However, if you do not ensure that your story makes sense
according to the points above, the only time you waste will be your
own. Why? Simple. Editors today do not expect - and indeed will not
tolerate - stories that simply don't 'hang together'. The days of droves of sub-editors making good your sloppy work are well and truly gone.
So
- edit and re-edit. Be brutal. Be honest with yourself and your work
and you will be streets ahead of those who do not take the time and
effort that you do. Writing fiction is hard work - it's up to you to
make certain your work is the best it can be. I look forward to seeing
you in print!
© Steve Dempster, All Rights Reserved.
About the Author
Steve Dempster writes fiction and informative articles for the web. Learn more about how to kickstart your writing career here: www.howtobeawriter.co.uk/
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