Novel Creation Process: Editing Phase

By Cody Leet

It's always a good idea to get extra sets of eyes on your work. Then check it again, and again.

▢ Get a Copy Editor
Don't try to do it all on your own. No matter how well you know the english language, if you wrote it, you will miss your mistakes. You need at least a second set of eyes. A line or copy editor is the solution.

Places to find editors:

▢ Write Third Draft
After you get the line edits back from the copy editor and you have cleaned up all the grammar and sentence structure, that is your third draft. Congratulations! Your work is now ready for some readers.

▢ Beta Readers
Now you want to get a couple readers to give you feedback on the manuscript. Not the same feedback as an editor, but feedback on plot holes, incorrect facts, continuity issues, and sections that just don't work well. I recommend not using friends, so you get honest feedback.

Why not friends?

I found that there are "professional beta testers" and I would recommend this. The quality of result from a paid professional vs. a free one is noticeable. The old adage applies: you get what you pay for. These are sometimes called "Development Editors" because they help you develop the plot.

So if you don't use friends, where do you find these?

I found the following sources to be good places to look for beta readers:
  1. Goodreads which has two active groups (7659 and 1924 members) dedicated to connecting beta readers with authors.
  2. LinkedIn, where you can search for people with "beta reader" in their profile

Once you find some and negotiate a price. send them a copy, and give them a deadline. Two weeks is reasonable to read and comment on an average sized novel.

▢ Final Draft
This is the easy step. Just take the feedback from the beta readers and make any modifications you agree with.

Note: you might want to run it by your editor again, since you are probably introducing new errors into the manuscript here. I sure did, and my ARC readers were more than happy to point them out.

▢ Final Edit
Have your copy editor run through it again, or at least any major sections you changed (assuming you kept track of them somehow), since you have probably introduced new errors into the manuscript. I skipped this step, but wished I didn't, since my ARC readers were more than happy to point them out.