How to start self-editing your book

Perhaps one of the most terrifying moments of being an author is the day after you’ve finished the first draft of your manuscript. The story is there, or at least, the bare bones of it. But now you’ve got to clean it up and make it as powerful as you can.

I was inspired by my most recent bout of “doom scrolling” on Bookstagram to share an article on self-editing, and for a few reasons:

• There are a lot of people writing books and working on manuscripts.
• There are a lot of writers who don’t know what to do with their manuscript once it’s finished.
• It is easier than ever to publish independently; writers may be the only ones who edit their books before publication, so they need to develop strong editing skills in order to make their story as powerful and captivating as possible.

Once a writer finishes a manuscript, the game shifts from vision boards and drafting to revisions and story structure. This shift can be overwhelming for many, so you’re not alone in this feeling or this process. The first draft has done its job of letting you write down the gist of your story, learn who your characters are, and explore your world. Now it’s time to take all of the story pieces and clean them up.

There’s just one problem: editing is an entirely different skill set than writing. It’s a myth in the literary world that writers also make good editors, when the truth is that those skilled in one may not be as effective in the other without substantial experience. It’s important for writers to develop their editing skills, as it will help improve both the revision and drafting process. Thus, this article should function as a launching pad for writers stepping into the sphere of editing their own work, and consists of a lot of questions to help guide you through the revision process.

I recommend writers begin self-editing their book by considering a universal principle I learned from an advanced figure drawing course: start with the biggest things, then work your way down to the smaller details.

When studying and drawing the human form, it didn’t make sense to sketch the eyes before we knew the angles of the face or the proportions of the body. Similarly, it doesn’t make sense to edit commas and typos before you know the scenes and plot elements that support your story.

STEP 1: With your manuscript complete, create a new, up-to-date outline of the story.

A bird’s eye view of where your book is at will help you prepare to do what is called a Developmental Edit. Developmental editing focuses on the following elements of a story:

• Story structure and pacing
• Compelling and effective characterization
• Character arcs and dialogue
• The Promise, The Progress, and The Payoff
• Strong central theme(s)
• Action sequences and gripping conflict
• How the setting adds to/supports your story
• Marketability for target audience
• Effective genre conventions, tropes

I’m a very visual learner, so I like using programs such as Miro or Scrivener to view my scenes like sticky notes. Here’s a blank version of the visual outline I developed in Miro for my manuscript, based on basic plot points and the 15-beat structure of Save the Cat.

To develop an outline like this, divide your story into parts: first, the character’s “old” world or life before everything changes; then, the “new” world/life that the character enters after the inciting incident; and finally, the last scenes where the old and the new are synthesized. Write down a one-sentence summary of each scene and place them in the order they appear in the manuscript.

Identify a question for each of your subplots. In my YA Viking fantasy novel, there are mystery and romance subplots, so my questions are, “What happened to Khona’s mother?,” “What’s wrong with Khona’s horse?,” and “What is the love interest hiding?” Then mark the scenes where you foreshadow the answers or details for each. Finally, mark all the scenes where your story’s central theme is explored in-depth, as well as any clues or moments that push the progression of your main plot.

STEP 2: Ask questions to evaluate the plot progression, scene order, character arcs, and other story elements for Part One, or your story’s beginning (before the character’s big change).

Now that you’ve got yourself oriented around the skeleton of your story, it’s time to begin evaluating and revising. Take a look at your overview and evaluate the effectiveness of each part. Focus in on Part One, using these questions to help with your evaluation:

• Does it introduce my main character in a way the reader can relate to them?
• Does it set up the character with sufficient motivation and flaws to be resolved?
• Does it introduce the character’s world without drowning the reader in worldbuilding?
• Does the story promise the reader an underlying conflict?
• Does the story present a strong hook that captures the reader’s interest early on?

You will be tempted to “fix” little things you stumble across, like typos, grammar mistakes, or formatting errors. You may even skim a section of dialogue and want to rewrite the whole thing. I strongly recommend you refrain as much as you can; it will save you time on the back end to do the copy editing last. For now, focus on smoothing out plot holes and answering the questions above. 

Once you can honestly respond “yes” to all of the above, reframe them into improvement questions:

• What will make the main character more relatable, consistent, or likeable?
• How can the setup for character motivations and flaws be improved?
• How can I make the setting contribute more to the plot, or improve the sensory experience?
• How can I add tension and suspense to the promise of an underlying conflict?
• Do I need to make my hook stronger?

You want Part One to provide the foundation for most of your story. Once your readers enter Part Two, they should have a basic idea of the world they’re in and the eyes they’re seeing it through (your main character). This revision is the time to question scene order and move chapters or scenes around to help the plot progress in a way that makes the most sense.

Keep in mind that just like your first draft, your second draft doesn’t have to be perfect. The job of draft two is to get all the big pieces of your story straightened out, and most of the plot holes fixed. 

STEP 3: Ask questions to evaluate Part Three (after the change, when the climax of the story is reached).

Why would I recommend revising parts out of order? Because Part Two is the longest, largest, and potentially most important part of the novel. It contains some of the most important scenes in the entire story and shows the transformation of your character. It is also bound between the beginning and the end, burdened with the responsibility of providing evidence of character development and change.

For evaluating your story’s Part Three:

• Has my character become what you envisioned them to be?
• Is the climax event personally significant for the character?
• Are their new skills and growth visible?
• Are the villain’s efforts reaching their conclusion?
• Is the conclusion of the climax a direct result of the main character’s actions and choices?
• Does the final scene reflect the beginning of the story?

Once you can confidently answer each of these questions, reframe them into improvement questions.

• How can I make your character’s growth even more apparent?
• How can I make the climax more personal for the character?
• Are there other, creative, problem-solving ways to demonstrate the character’s new skills?
• Is the villain bad enough? Are their threats dire enough? Are they also relatable?
• Do I show the character’s response to the consequences of their actions and choices?
• How can the final scene drive home the central theme even more?

Though it won’t be perfect, once you can narrow in on some of these ideas, your manuscript will be much cleaner and almost ready for beta readers.

STEP 4: Ask questions to evaluate Part Two (the “messy middle,” or the scenes and events wherein your character actually experiences the change).

Now that you’ve cleaned up and established both sides of the story, you’re ready to dive into the middle of your book. I find it helpful to split Part Two in half. Evaluate all the scenes that happen before the Midpoint, when your plot is exploring the new world with relatively lower pressure. Then evaluate all the scenes that come after your Midpoint, where the stakes are raised, the danger is higher, and the action is building to the climax. You now know with more clarity where your character started and where they need to end (thanks to your first evaluations), so plot holes encountered in Part Two should be easier to resolve.

Guiding evaluation questions for your story’s Part Two:

Before the midpoint

• Is the character’s world or life noticeably different?
• What new elements of the world are present?
• Is the character discovering new skills?
• Is the character trying to solve both internal and external problems the wrong way?
• Does the character encounter sources of darkness or danger that tests them?
• Are the supporting characters appropriately representing the central theme?
• Is the main character getting out of their comfort zone?
• Is there foreshadowing to hint at the midpoint?
• Is the villain or their forces present?
• Is there a scene that provides a noticeable shift where the stakes are raised? Does the character get what they want (a false victory), or something they didn’t want at all (false defeat)?

After the midpoint

• Does the villain or danger seem to be drawing closer?
• Is the character experiencing complications with their new skills?
• Does the character experience a “whiff of death,” figuratively or literally?
• Is the character forced to face hopelessness of some kind and muster the courage to overcome it?
• Does the character experience a breakthrough with their new skills and a resolve to win?
• If the character had a false defeat, are things seeming to get better? If a false victory, are things seeming to get worse?
• Is the character beginning to try to fix both their internal and external problems?
• Is the character at last prepared to fix things the right way? Do they have what they need?

Depending on your answers for each of these questions, you’ll then be able to make revisions for the weakest points of your story.

STEP 5: Send the new draft to beta readers.

The process of revising a story takes considerable time, so don’t be worried if the above process for doing a self-developmental edit takes you a few weeks to complete. Once you feel like your plot and characters are where you want them to be, send the draft to a small group of experienced beta readers and ask them to respond to the same evaluation questions.

Part of the reason it is so difficult to revise our own stories is because we spend so long constructing them that by the time we finish a draft, we are neck-deep in the lore and the foreshadowing and the plot twists and the characters. Getting external feedback prior to publication is one of the best things writers can do for their novel.

Once you have beta reader feedback, go through your story again. Recognize that the feedback is only opinion, and doesn’t necessarily mean you have to change everything about your book. But if the same response to a scene or character is mentioned by multiple beta readers, pay special attention to those elements! Implement the feedback that you feel helps better your story until you have completed a third draft.

The manuscript is already looking great!

Once you’ve worked your way through these five elements of a self-edit, you should be feeling very confident about your story. At this point, you’ll want to complete your own (or hire out a) copy edit that focuses on the small details of punctuation, spelling, grammar, pragmatics, connotations, repetitive words, continuity, clarity, fact-checking, and formatting. The Chicago Manual of Style is a standard style guide for the publishing industry and can help you with understanding these details.

Very last of all, remember Stephen King’s writing advice to “Kill your darlings.” Writers must be brave enough to dive deep into their theme, sacrifice the lovable character, or cut out the scene that was fun to write but contributes absolutely nothing to the plot. It is a hard thing to do, but your story will be all the better for it.

I hope this article was helpful for writers who are looking to start doing some of their own edits. Make sure to connect with me on social media and subscribe to get updates, announcements, and resources.

Hannah L. Ackerman