The Tidy Guide to Writing, Editing, and Publishing Your Novel

Write with the pen, edit with the sword

If you try to make your first draft a worldwide bestseller, you'll get frustrated and never finish. There's a time and place for everything. First, write the story. Get it down on paper (or, on the screen, more likely). Make notes regarding any changes that need made as they come to mind. Maybe you need to look up the year Napoleon marched on Waterloo, or you think you changed your protagonist's eye color. Jot down the note and move on. Don't let the "to do's" get in the way of your momentum. There will be plenty of time to fix things when you have the first draft completed.

Then, you can improve the story during the editing process. When you self-edit, you cut unnecessary parts, such as the infamous "day in the life" scenes. On my first book, I cut two entire chapters because they didn't move the story forward. Editing can be a difficult yet fulfilling experience, because it's all about making your novel the best book it can be.

I've seen a few writers take the changes personally, believing (incorrectly) that the edits are a reflection of the author and not of the story. They've grown so attached to their story that they don't want to cut a single word. I can understand—those words took a lot of time and energy to write. The key to a good edit is to not take edits personally. No story is perfect. It doesn't matter if you're J. K. Rowling, Stephen King, or a first-time novelist, everyone's story needs edited.

As part of the publishing process, you should work with an editor on your novel. However, there are many things you can do as an author to self-edit and polish your novel that will make working with an editor so much easier. Never fear: In the second part of this guide, I'll give you a variety of checks and assessments that you can perform on your novel to make it your personal best.