The importance of editing and revision – Part two
Whether you’re an established writer or just starting out in your career, there are no right or wrong ways to revise your work. Some people do revisions and edit as they go along, while others insist on finishing the entire piece before they even start to look at any alterations. The Alchemist’s Portrait went through over twenty edits before it was finally ready; the other novels between five and ten each, I think. However, it isn’t strictly a revision process for me. I don’t just sit down and write the novel from the beginning and work through to the end, although this is what many authors do.
Since writing The Alchemist’s Portrait, I’ve spent a lot of time on the outlines for my subsequent novels, ensuring the plot is just right before I start writing the actual book. I spend perhaps six months working on the detailed outline of the story. This outline usually comprises at least one paragraph for each chapter of the book and can be as much as ten thousand words in length. Sometimes during the process, a piece of dialogue or an action sequence begs to be written because it is rattling around in my head and so I do write that right away, since I can always move it around in the story later on the computer. Planning your book out in this way isn’t for everyone, but I find it works well for me.
I’ve provided substantive and copy editing services for many other writers over the years. This has been for novels, short stories, fiction, nonfiction, biographies, inspirational books and many other genres. You can view details of some of the projects that I’ve worked on here.
