Writing Saturday; How do you edit a book?

9:31 AM

Okay, so you have written a book and now you come to the most daunting stage, editing. This can be scary, because it seems like an overwhelming task, but here is the way I usually do it.

Step 1; I go through my book and find all the errors that I can and fix them. This can take a while, but the more you do it the quicker and better you become at it.

Step 2; Have a parent or sibling go through the book to find spelling, grammar, and story errors. They often will find things that you have missed and help you prepare your book for the next step.

Step 3; Ask three or four people you know to read your book. Make sure that you ask people in different age groups to read it; this will help you get some different perspectives.

Step 4; Taking the information that your friends have given you, make the necessary changes to you book.

Step 5; I like to call this step the polishing step. If your friends are willing, have them read your book once again and polish the last rough spots.

Step 6; Enjoy your finished book!

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2 comments

  1. Good post, Sarah! I tried to post a comment to this a few days ago, but our internet stopped working because of a bad storm and apparently my comment got lost! LOL. Oh, well.
    Those are good steps to take when editing a novel! I'm currently editing my first one, and I'm doing it differently than you. I changed a major plot point in the book, so I'm rewriting the beginning and ending right now. After I'm done with that, then I can do what I consider the 'real editing'
    First I'll read through the entire book for the first time and fix basic mistakes like using then instead of than, except instead of accept, etc. After I read through the whole book I'll be able to see what needs work the most.
    Then I think I'll just fix the problems and rewrite everything from the most important things to the least important. I want to take it one step at a time. Otherwise I get overwhelmed! ;)
    My book needs a lot of work, but I think with enough editing/rewriting I'll be able to turn it into an enjoyable read. I hope so anyway! :P

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  2. I agree, editing can be very daunting. Thanks for the tips.=)

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