: Re: How to survive editing I am currently trying to edit a one my most recent novel. Trying is the keyword. I asked a few people to read my book as beta readers, but all of them have been

@Rivera824

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Ditto to the other answers.

I break it down into specific goals. Each pass requires about a week. Check commas and other grammatical issues. Fix instances of passive voice. Make character voices consistent. Add more sensory details. Tighten. Check for adverb abuse. Map to the three act structure. Hammer the protagonist's actions/plot to their goal. Along those lines, make the protagonists choose every decision/rework instances where someone else makes a decision, to them making a decision. (So many details, I gave each a dedicated pass)

My beta readers got the tenth draft and said there was no tension. So the issues I had were fundamental structural issues and I tackled those next.

Add tension. Ramp up emotion. Break story into scenes and sequels, and score each. Look for the emotional turning points - are these correctly timed? remove pointless scenes (cut your darlings.)

I'm on the 22 draft. (I had no idea.) But the end of the story probably needs more dedicated attention because yeah it's tiring.

Evidently this process can be done in four drafts. maybe the next book I can do it in four drafts. :) One can hope.

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