Anyone who has followed my blogs knows I am a big fan of lists – apart, of course, from the ones that itemise the supermarket shopping, or the kind I used to make when I was at work in the prison. No, I’m talking about the creative list:the list that makes a poem or the list that guides you through a tricky process like editing. Such a list should never be followed slavishly, but should be a list that gets you going, a list that above all inspires and helps. A list that gets to the heart of things.
So here ‘s my list for beginnng the edit of your novel. I will be using it too.
1. Choose a rainy Sunday, better still set aside a day in your diary, make a date with yourself, but before you begin sit down to breakfast –this is a day to relish!
2. Now ask yourself the most important question of all – what kind of an editor am I? Consider when you set out to edit your work what it is you are most likey to do or focus on. What might you do too much of? What might you forget?
I know that I tend to spend a long time on close editing my text: the words, phrases, sentences, how they fit together, whether they can be improved (more of this in my later post about micro editing). There is nothing wrong with this and I will always want to edit my work to a fine level BUT I know that sometimes it gets in the way of the bigger picture. I need to get out of my comfort zone of fine tuning – so to do this, instead of embarking on a close screen edit I am going to resist the word play and go straight for broke to number 3
3. Print off a copy of your novel – all of it! Your words will seem different on the page, the whole thing will seem different, and if you want to read with the eyes of a stranger then the screen simply won’t do. Make sure your manuscript has wide margns and double spacing so that you have plenty of room to write directly onto the page.
4. Make a list (the woman is obssessed I hear you say!) of the key themes and contexts of your novel and keep a copy in front of you or stick one up on the board above your desk. This will act as a kind of checklist and help you to sustain and strengthen the layers of your novel. Mine begins:
Danny Beck’s dance with death
Newcastle in winter
Danny’s recent ‘escape’ from the world of prison
Surveillance/watching
5. Once you have completed your list then try to write down what your book is about. Do this in no more than three sentences , (not always easy) and keep this with you or put it up on your noticeboard. You can then refer back as you read through and check that you have not lost sight of the most important aspects of your story.
6. Now armed with a notebook for things that need further consideration and pens or pencils -perhaps the hardest task of all- re-invent yourself. Imagine that you are about to go on holiday and have just picked up this book to take with you – as far as possible put yourself in this stranger’s shoes or on their sunbed and read your novel as they would. This is difficult but well worth trying – critical distance is everything
7. Bear in mind the points raised over the course of the next week, in posts 3, 4 and 5 in particular and start reading.
8. Enjoy – no writing or task associated with writing should be anything but enjoyable! Smile and take a moment to pat yourself on the back and gloat at having reached the milestone of your first completed draft.
Good Luck!
If you would like to contact me with any thoughts or questions but do not want to leave a blog comment then my e mail address is – amjoy@hotmail.co.uk
First, a confession: I’m not someone who makes lists. This doesn’t stop me reading them, of course, and having an opinion (I always have an opinion). So here goes.
1. “Choose a rainy Sunday.” If I were to do that, all Sundays for the next year would be sunny. Sod’s law. Of course, many people would thank me for this gift to Sunday ramblers, but I think choosing a random day is safer from my point of view. Regarding breakfast, might I recommend ASDA’s Valencia Orange Marmalade? Delightfully zesty, and not too sweet – an excellent way to start the day.
2. “What kind of an editor am I?” Random and chaotic, but I do understand the need to look at the bigger picture at this stage rather than nitpicking over a misplaced Oxford comma.
3. “Print off a copy.” NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! Absolutely categorically doesn’t work for me, though I know it’s a tried and tested strategy for a large number of novelists. It’s not just that I’m a skinflint when it comes to paper and ink; it’s more that I make such major changes when editing that it would be physically impossible to keep track of what I am doing. I stick to the computer. Sometimes I change the font, but the main change I make is to the format. I always write initially in web format, ie single spaced, lines breaks between paragraphs, no indents (this makes it easy to post on internet forums as I go along for critique). Then when I come to edit, I usually put it all into manuscript format, ie double-spaced, indents where appropriate, and so on. This enables me to see the entire book in a different light but still leaves me able to make swathing changes without loosing track of what I’ve done.
4. “Make a list.” One day I might make a list, but knowing me, I’d turn it into a poem and forget why I’d done it in the first place.
5. “Write down what your book is about.” I think this is extremely useful when thinking about a synopsis. Not sure I’d do it for editing the entire novel, but it’s something I’ll consider with the next one.
6. “Armed with a notebook…” A PC in my case. I don’t ‘do’ notebooks. A few weeks ago when I took myself off to Durham cathedral with the express intention of writing on location, I had to pop into Rymans on the way to buy a notebook, as I didn’t possess such a thing. However, that’s by the by. The point of this part is the re-invention of self. Critical distance. Yes! Absolutely. This is a key element. I generally cheat by getting plenty of other people to read it first and report back. I’ll have done masses of online work-shopping before I reach this point, but I still like the idea of distancing, and it’s certainly something I do.
7. I take this one as meaning once you’ve worked out how you’re organising this; do it. Don’t get distracted.
8. “Enjoy.” In many ways, editing is the most enjoyable part of the process. The book’s there. You don’t have to write it again. All you have to do is get rid of the dross, tighten it up, and take the first steps that will turn a morass of words into an unputdownable masterpiece. A doddle. Maybe.
Thank you for your great comments Cathy, they demonstrate quite clearly that there are as many ways of editing a novel as there are marmalades to have with one’s toast, also that we all find our own ways, which work for us. Will definitely give Asda’s marmalade try!
Avril