I recently rewrote, revised and edited my first novel, The Sheriff, in preparation for its launch in Spring of this year.
Rewriting is a satisfying place to be for two reasons. Firstly, the hard work is done - now it is time to polish. Secondly, you can share your work with test readers and finally can hear some feedback.
Here are my Top Five Tips for rewriting.
1. Once you have finished the first draft, leave it well alone. Take a month to celebrate and clear your head.
2. Return to your first draft and read it aloud. You will spot plenty of clunky sentences. Fix them.
3. Do several laps of your manuscript, fixing one thing at a time. Do a dialogue lap. Then a narrative lap. Then a spelling lap and a punctuation lap and so on.
4. When it is in a decent shape, share your manuscript with test readers. More on test readers here. As Stephen King says, "Write with the door closed. Rewrite with the door open." Let those test readers in. They are very welcome.
5. Filter the feedback. You should not accept every suggestion and criticism. As Chuck Wendig says, "Two opinions enter, one opinion leaves."
Rewriting is a satisfying place to be for two reasons. Firstly, the hard work is done - now it is time to polish. Secondly, you can share your work with test readers and finally can hear some feedback.
Here are my Top Five Tips for rewriting.
1. Once you have finished the first draft, leave it well alone. Take a month to celebrate and clear your head.
2. Return to your first draft and read it aloud. You will spot plenty of clunky sentences. Fix them.
3. Do several laps of your manuscript, fixing one thing at a time. Do a dialogue lap. Then a narrative lap. Then a spelling lap and a punctuation lap and so on.
4. When it is in a decent shape, share your manuscript with test readers. More on test readers here. As Stephen King says, "Write with the door closed. Rewrite with the door open." Let those test readers in. They are very welcome.
5. Filter the feedback. You should not accept every suggestion and criticism. As Chuck Wendig says, "Two opinions enter, one opinion leaves."