How to Stop Rearranging Deck Chairs and Fix the Structure of Your Book
Roll up your sleeves! It’s time to look at the overall structure of your novel and test the plot
Congratulations! You’ve finished a novel! After you’ve given yourself a big pat on the back, it’s time to think about editing.
Editing your novel can be daunting – but you’ve done the hardest bit. You have the first draft, and now you can start polishing it.
But here’s the thing: there’s no point starting to tweak commas if you haven’t got the structure of your story right yet. So often authors will come to me for a developmental edit – this is the first ‘big-picture’ edit – but expect us to be looking at spelling errors or punctuation. These things are important! But first you need to have the underlying bones of your story in place.
This is how I usually work for developmental, or structural, edits. I sit down with two documents in front of me: the manuscript, obviously, and a blank document for notes. If there are particular things an author has asked me to look at – a certain character’s arc, for example, or whether the twist works – I’ll add that to the notes document so I don’t forget to comment on it. Then I start reading, adding notes under various headings as I go.
I always, always, have a section called ‘Opening’ in my notes. The opening of your novel is so important! So if I’m also marking-up the manuscript (whether I do this or not depends on what exactly the publisher or author has commissioned me to do) my in-line comments are almost always heaviest on the first few pages. The rest of the sections in my notes vary, but might cover certain characters’ arcs, or key plot points, or pacing, or whatever isn’t quite working yet as I read. I also try and capture in the notes (or comment on the manuscript) things I love: beautiful writing or emotionally satisfying moments or a really great twist or a line that made me laugh out loud.
So if you are looking to edit your own novel, this is what I would recommend. First, know that we are thinking about structure and the overall shape of things first. Try not to get bogged down in correcting typos – in fact try not to be changing anything at this point. Just read, as a reader would, making notes as you go.
