The Five Stages of Writing, Re-Writing and Editing

Assuming you have got to know your character and have a skeleton outline of the story that will become your novel, you are just five stages away from completion …

First Draft

The stage when you are telling the story to yourself.
No need to concentrate on spelling, layout or punctuation, just get the story out of your head and onto the page.
Careful planning prior to commencement of writing the story makes this easier.
Try not to edit anything at this stage. Editing cancels out your creativity.
Just keep going forwards, one page at a time until you have finished.

Second Draft

At this stage you can type up your handwritten draft.
Decide whether your novel has started in the right place. Writers often launch in too early, giving too much explanation or backstory rather than going straight in at a point of action.
Be discerning and omit episodes, scenes and characters that either are not really adding anything to your novel or moving it forwards.
Places that you’ve ‘skipped over’ may need expansion – sometimes scenes that are too descriptive may need ‘playing out’ using dialogue and character action.
Wherever possible, ensure that you are ‘showing’ rather than ‘telling.

Third Draft

At this stage you should go through the typed draft, from the beginning through to the end on the screen.
Keep the momentum with this read through so you don’t ‘lose’ what you have already read.
Check every word is the best it can be, using the ‘synonyms’ function on your computer. Every word counts.
Ensure consistency in terms of viewpoint and character details.
Beware of ‘overwriting.’ Of being too wordy. Less is often more so go easy with the adjectives.
Keep asking yourself whether you have got a story that your reader can get ‘lost in.’ Make the novel ‘universal’ rather than ‘personal.
Remember that reading should be an active process – enable the reader to ‘fill in the gaps’ themselves sometimes.

Fourth Draft

Now you should print out your entire novel and annotate with a pen. You will notice things on the page that you didn’t on the screen
Again, keep the momentum with this read through so you do not forget earlier details and the characters continue to live within you.
Ensure consistency in terms of tense – it is so easy to slip in and out of past and present tense.
Check everything relating to spelling, grammar and punctuation
Are there any incidences in your novel that you need to improve – where perhaps it is important to check your facts through further research.
Can any scenes be improved with more sensory detail? Go beyond just the visual.
Check all your chapters are demarcated where you want them. Does each chapter offer a beginning, middle and end?
Do the scenes within each chapter contain a beginning, middle and end?
Return to the screen and make all theFifth Draft

necessary corrections
Read the novel aloud, k
eeping all the aforementioned points in mind and editing as necessary.
Reading aloud, paying attention to the dialogue. Is it authentic?
This out loud reading will highlight any general clumsiness and interruption of flow.

Then …

If possible, get someone else to read it. A proof reader should spot mistakes and will be able to comment on content.
Congratulations! Your novel should now be the best it can be so get it sent of to an agent or
publisher!