Coming off the rush and sleepless delirium of NaNoWriMo, most of us writers are thinking two things: I can’t believe I managed to write this many words, and what in the world do I do with this now?

First off, congratulations for writing, period. No matter if you wrote fifty or fifty thousand words this month, I’m proud of you. Writing is no easy feat.

Second off, welcome to the world of editing.

Many writers I’ve talked to hate editing. Maybe it’s the nit-pickiness, maybe it’s looking back at your manuscript and realizing you named your main character’s cat Stella in one scene and Astra in the next paragraph, maybe it’s the uncreativity of it all. It’s tedious. It’s mind-numbing. It makes you want to tear your hair out and run to a new project.

But does it have to be like that?

The answer is up to you.

Sure, you can go through your novel hating the mistakes, groveling at your past self for being so stupid and unimaginative and how could you let this many typos even happen? Really?

Or, you can approach it how I like to.

Embarking on a new adventure. Stepping from the world of writing, into the new world of editing.

Personally, I’ve found editing and redrafting are some of my favorite parts of writing. You get to take this story of yours, these characters and these long nights, these pages scrabbled from nights up late with hot chocolate and straining awake in the early mornings to scribble down a couple more sentences. You get to take this adventure and make it even better.

Step #1: Living Time

Now, first off, I suggest taking a break from your novel altogether. I know, kinda weird. But as writers, we spend so much time with our novels, weaving our heart and soul into every page. When it’s time for editing, we become blind to a ton of mistakes and edits, better seen with fresh eyes.

Stephanie Morrill, co-author of Go Teen Writers: Edit Your Novel, says it’s ideal to take six weeks after your draft before editing (unless you’re on a major time crunch). James Scott Bell, author of Plot & Structure, along with several other books on craft and fiction, says to take two weeks, then re-read the whole thing in one fell swoop. Matt Bell, author of Appleseed, says in his craft book Refuse to Be Done to take anywhere from one to six months of lived time, living life away from your book, until you’re not thinking about it every second of your life. Stephen King (I don’t really think I have to give any examples for him) says to take a minimum of six weeks, and work on a new story in the meantime.

My point in that interesting block of text is to take time away from your book, but the exact time is up to you. Whatever it takes for it not to be in your head every second of the day, where you can come back to your story and see new stuff and not be locked

down in your stories. When I took time away from my writing, I’d been doing a two month rewrite for a contest, and finally decided, hey, maybe I should give myself a break after months of aggressive focus. I set a date for six weeks.

I honestly failed at the not-constantly-thinking-about-my-story thing.

It was hard. Even after trying to start another project in the meantime. After the six weeks and an extra four weeks of “plotting”, I’m finally rewriting again (fourth draft *cheers*) and I do feel much more distanced from my book. I had more time for art, and reading. The writing process also feels a lot harder, though I’m not sure if this is from the break or just being busier than I was before. I’ll keep you guys updated if this tip actually seems to work for me, or if it ends up being a fluke XD

Overall, I think taking the time to live is important, or at least taking time to refill your creativity. Take two weeks from writing your novel and go read books in your genre. Take a month and plan a trip to somewhere eye-opening. Start an art class, join a marathon, live and enjoy life away from the desk. Play around with break times after each draft. See what works best for you in that season.

Step #2: Delving Back Into Your Story

After taking a break, the first thing you should do is celebrate the fact that you made it! Then pull up your book from the shelf or the locked file on your computer and read through the entire thing. In one to two sittings is preferred, but if you don’t have time or energy to do that, it won’t ruin anything. The most important part is soaking up all the emotion, the feeling, the essence of your story again. As you read, take notes. What did you love? What moved you? Note anything you think needs editing, or know needs editing. This will give you a list of things you need to do, which is vital for our next step.

Along with re-reading, take some time to fall in love with your story again. Personally, I love making Pinterest boards and Spotify playlists for all my books and characters, and using both of these when my inspiration or spark is running low. It could be a life saver on those late nights when you’re looking at one of your world’s names after writing it for the fifteenth time in two pages and starting to doubt if you’re writing it correctly…

Step #3: The Fun Part

Okay, you’ve done it. Notes, conquered, music and Pins, hopefully in your arsenal.

Editing and revision.

I suggest one of two paths:

1. Going through your book, page by page, and editing the characters and plot and etc you wrote in your notes. Or,
2. Rewriting, essentially from scratch, but with your first draft and notes by your side.

Personally, I adore the second method, as a pantser, but either way can work. It’s up to you, as the author. And hey, if you’ve found a third or fourth or tenth method you like better, have at it. And also let me know in the comments, I am intrigued.

No matter what method you choose, you’ll essentially go through the same process. In The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing, author Gabriela Pereira suggests using her Great Pyramid of Revision.

• Layer One = Narration and Voice. The way you tell your story and the POV character’s voice. To quote Pereira, “Narration is, in fact, the most important component of your story, because it affects how the reader experiences it. In reworking the narration, you are refocusing the reader’s lens for viewing your story, and that can have a domino effect on all other elements of your book.”

Rewriting scenes from memory or with only a very basic outline can be a great way to hone in on your story’s voice. Focus on writing in the story or character’s voice, and see what new things pop up in your writing.

• Layer Two = The Characters. Naturally, the characters are the life and blood of the novel. Without characters your readers will root for, the book falls flat. If you haven’t already, bringing characters to life can be… an interesting process. They fight against it, hide secrets from you, act one way and then suddenly do something else… or just sit there and do nothing. But embracing your characters–letting their personality come to life, through gentle coaxing and whispered secrets and lots and lots of daydreaming–can be one of the most rewarding parts of writing.

One of my biggest tips for bringing characters to life is writing a few journal entries in their voice. Pen and paper, just you and the character. Let them ramble. Ask them personal questions. For example:

“What’s your family like?”

“What’s one of your biggest flaws?”

“If you could change one event in your life, what would you change?”

• Layer 3: The Story, Plot, and Structure. By now, you should have a firm hold on the feel of your novel and the essence of your characters. With strong characters at the helm, your story can bloom into the tale you truly want to tell. At this point, it’s about the big picture story–the three acts, action and reaction chapters, and buckling down on that story and those plot holes. Make sure your character drives your plot though–otherwise, your story can feel flat, as if you’re just checking off boxes to create your story.

I’m currently in this stage of editing, and as a pantser, it’s driving me half insane. But thanks to my plotter friend, I’ve started simply writing out each act chapter (Inciting Incident, Embracing Destiny, etc) and filling in what I know about each thus far. Having your character’s goals is crucial. And if you keep getting stuck, know it’s perfectly alright to go back to previous stages. No one’s judging you–what’s important is having a strong story you love.

• Layer 4: The Scenes, Worldbuilding, Description, Dialogue, and Theme. The funnest (yes I made that word up, deal with it) details of any novel. Dive into your world. Does it feel real to you? To your readers? Show the world and experiences through your POV’s eyes. Their emotions and experiences should color their view of the world, and if you show that through your writing, it can make the world that much more interesting. Similarly, your dialogue and themes should shine strong through the eyes of your characters. Know the character’s voice. Don’t shove the theme in the reader’s face, instead show them through scenes and story.

Much of this layer is knowing your characters and living through them. Follow their heart. What would they do? How do they tell the scene, their words, the theme? How do they experience this? If you can get into your character’s head and write the story through their eyes, your story will be intriguing and fascinating to the readers.

• Layer 5: Cosmetics, Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling, and Word Choice. Finally, we’ve reached the final stage. I feel like a lot of writers–myself included–go into editing focused on this stage, only to be hit over the head with reality–there’s so much more than punctuation when it comes to editing! But once you’re here, you can focus on all the nitpicky little things, and then have a solid, beautiful, finished novel on your hands.

Over the next eight months, I’ll go more into depth about each of these layers. For now, I hope this checklist is helpful, and let me know in the comments which layer sounds the most interesting to you! And on those days when even all this doesn’t help, just remember:

“The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.” – Robert Cormier

Happy editing!