Wendy Ogilvie EDITING MY NOVEL
At last, I have finally taken my novel from Scrivener on my Netbook and transferred it to a word document on my laptop. I then backed it up onto a USB stick and all I need to do now is edit the whole thing!
The picture left is where I wrote most of my book. My lovely Oak (think it’s Oak anyway) dressing table. We do have a spare room set up with a large desk, chair, shelving, table top computer and printer which sounds perfect. Unfortunately, although I’m not the tidiest person in the world, I cannot seem to write surrounded by a mess and as I share this room with my other half, there is far too much stuff in there for me to be able to concentrate. Is it just me?
Anyway, I digress, so I am now starting to edit my first draft and wasn’t sure where to start. I imagine editing is as personal a thing as your book itself. We all have different ways of working; so here’s how I have decided to go about it.
1. Print off a hard copy – I used economical fast printing
– and read through whole thing to check for any discrepancies in the storyline.
– check grammar and sentence structure.
2. Amend computer text in line with edited hard copy.
3. Get final draft proofread by someone.
I realise that it would probably be more efficient to do the first edit on the computer, but I love to sit in a cafe with my red pen and edit to my heart’s content.
I am sure there are some things I have missed, so do let me know how you deal with the editing process. All suggestions welcome.
Wendy Ogilvie 
When I’d finished the third or fourth edit of my novel someone in the publishing biz suggested I read it from back to front as I tended to get wrapped up in reading the story instead of editing. This way you’re reading isolated sentences or paragraphs and you’re not getting into the flow of the story-line. I did find a couple of minor errors this way but it’s really difficult to get the hang of it.
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That’s a good idea, I’ll give it a go. I must admit as it has been a while since I wrote the first half of the book, I have got a little caught up in the story. This means I still like the story but of course may detract from editing. I will give it a go and let you know how I get on.
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Like I say…it worked for me. Good luck!!
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