Ask Questions in the Edit

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ask questions in the editNo draft of creative writing comes out perfect, you have to ask questions in the edit. I go through several rounds of editing before anyone else sees a line, starting with the Big Picture.

Before I fix any of the low-level glitches, I take a top-down view of the piece, starting here. This is mostly developmental editing, with a qualitative assessment of the text for line editing down the road.

The Biggest Picture: challenge everything.

  • Does the draft fit the genre? Conventions, tropes, tone?
  • Does this chapter, scene, paragraph, sentence add value? Does it belong?
  • Is there conflict in every scene? Internal or external.

Character

  • Are the characters well defined?
    • Principal character must have depth, what we used to called fully-rounded. Complete with flaws and inconsistencies
    • Do they hold our sympathy? Are they, at least, relatable? And if they’re not likeable, are they compelling?
    • Supporting or side characters: remember every character is the hero of their own story.
    • Make the supporting characters unique and distinctive in at least one way.

Dialog

  • Is the dialog meaningful?
  • Does the dialog reflect each character’s unique voice?
  • Is it clear who is speaking?
  • Are the dialog tags necessary and appropriate?

Narrative voice

  • Is the narrative voice clear and distinctive.
  • Does it match the Point of View?
  • Is there any unintended switching of narrative voice or PoV (head-hopping)?
  • Does it speak to the intended audience (age group, demographic, type of reader)?
  • Is there sufficient description to tell the reader where and when the story occurs – scene by scene. Do we have a sense of place?

Plot

  • Does every incident and progression fit the Big Picture?
  • Does the plot make sense? Are there holes or inconsistencies?
  • Are there digressions, tangents or rabbit holes?
  • Do the characters know what they should in any given moment and no more? No continuity errors.
  • Is there enough world-building to support the characters and plot? Too much? Too little? Big info dumps or drip-feed?

These are the essential top-down questions to ask in the edit. Answer all of these, you can move on to the detailed level of line edits, copy-editing and proofreading. Let the editing fun begin!

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