Taming the Draft: Self-Editing (Part One)

When I started writing, I had a particularly toxic writer trait: If I finished the first draft of something and didn’t find it stunning, I’d toss it aside and move on to writing the next thing. Editing? Pffft. Not for me. I wanted perfection from the start.

I used to think if my first draft wasn’t great, it meant the idea wasn’t strong enough, or worse, that I wasn’t strong enough of a writer. If something felt off, I didn’t know how to correct it so I’d just get frustrated and ditch it. 

It’s probably important to note that strategy did not serve me well. In fact, it resulted in a lot of unfinished, unpublished stories. (I still have a few from 2018 sitting in my unfinished folder that will likely never see the light of day.)

Editing your own work can be difficult, especially when you’re close to it. We read what we meant, not what’s actually there. So, when you go to edit your own work, you have to be aware of the potential pitfalls and be careful and cautious as you read.

These days, my editing process always starts with giving my first draft some space. If I’ve just finished a draft, I let it sit without even looking at it for a few days (for a short story) or a few weeks (for a novel). It gives my heart time to forget what it wants to see, so my brain can recognize what’s actually on the page.

When I do return, I try to read like I’m coming to it for the first time. No edits, no red pens. Just reading and taking it in. I often use my word processor's “read aloud” tool at this point, or I read aloud to myself. 

Along the way, I ask big picture questions such as:

• What’s working?
• Where do I get bored or confused?
• Where, if anywhere, did I feel real emotion?
• Do my characters feel fleshed out and different from one another?

It can be easy to fall into the trap of micro-editing at this point, but for me, I just highlight things I might need to return to and focus on reading and these major questions. Trust me when I say you don’t want to spend hours polishing a scene that might end up getting cut or so drastically rearranged it’s barely recognizable in the final draft. (Yes, ask me how I know.)

As you step into the editing stage, don’t get disheartened. Remember the goal of the first draft is simply to exist. Congratulations! If you’re looking at a first draft, you achieved that goal. You’ve written a book!

It isn’t perfect? Good. Then you’ve done your job. The goal of the first draft is to be a canvas, and the goal of self-editing is to fling paint at it until it resembles something beautiful. 

In the next post in this series, I’ll write about next steps—how to get into your big-picture edits, how to spot your story’s heart and bring it to life. For now, take a deep breath, reread gently, and remind yourself, Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was your novel.