Pre-editing PRE-EDITING 1 PRE-EDITING 2 PRE-EDITING 3

The Heart of the Novel The Title of the Novel Readers

A brief reflection before re-reading the text Summarise the story in two lines. What is its heart? What is the title? Does it work? Are there any other possible titles? Who are your ideal readers? Who’s reading the story right now?

PRE-EDITING 4 First Revision FOCAL POINTS 1 FOCAL POINTS 2

Feedback Plot Check Meaning Check

Dare to dream: what feedback would you like to receive? What to do before a first read-through Write down the events in order. Does the sequence work? Does every sequence have a goal? Is it in line with the heart of the story?

FOCAL POINTS 3 FOCAL POINTS 4 FOCAL POINTS 5 FOCAL POINTS 6

Structure Check Characters Narrator Feedback Revision

Is this the best order to tell the story? What are the characters’ arc? How structured are the characters? How do you choose to tell the story? Would you have given the same feedback you would like to receive?

FOCAL POINTS 7
What problems have you identified?

indicating changes already made

How do you want to solve them?

Why are those problems there?

Move on this line the post-its

What might their origin be?
To-do List

Thoughts

Done
PROCESS

PROCESS

PROCESS
Choices and Consistency
Have you made specific choices and followed them throughout the text?

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 SYMPTOMS SYMPTOMS SYMPTOMS
Second Revision
(fast) (slow) (bumpy)

Too Fast Too Slow Bumpy or Fractured

Start from the Symptoms to find new problems to be solved Lazy writing style? Expand, show, excite Cut, break or transform into dialogue Cut, clean up, find the right words

SYMPTOMS SYMPTOMS SYMPTOMS SYMPTOMS

(cut) (wow) (???) (settings*)

Wastepaper Bravo Something isn’t adding up Settings-related Problems

Rewrite, delete. How come is it so bad? Why does it work? What can you learn from it? Are there any inaccuracies, inconsistencies or timing errors? Do the settings have a function? If yes, are they memorable?

SYMPTOMS SYMPTOMS

problem? What impact does it have?

(characters*) (dialogues*)

How serious is the symptom or

How often does the symptom
or problem appear?
Frequency

Impact
ANALYSIS

ANALYSIS
Characters-related Problems Dialogues-related Problems
Are they well presented throughout the arc of the story? Are dialogues too long, dramatic, forced? Are there any clichés?

COMMON ISSUES COMMON ISSUES

Third Revision
(s/t) (pov)
Where does the symptom
or problem come from?
Cause
ANALYSIS

Show vs Tell Point of View Issues

Chapter by chapter, review out loud Did you tell too much? Is the POV not clear? Look for perspective errors

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 COMMON ISSUES COMMON ISSUES COMMON ISSUES COMMON ISSUES

(clichés) (adj/adv) (tags) (see o/c)

Clichés & Co. Adjectives and Adverbs Dialogue Tags Openings and Closings
Beware of weak metaphors, gerund, italics, common places Overused adjective-noun combo, useless adverbs, automatisms What verbs do you use? Are there repeated actions? Do the start and the ending of the chapters work? And the incipit?

COMMON ISSUES
Final Touches FINAL TOUCHES 1 FINAL TOUCHES 2
(end)

The Ending Repetitions and Frequent Devices Cleaning up

Is it the right one? Is it in line with the heart of the story? Quick clean-up of the text Are there words or devices you’ve used too much? Do a light proofread

FINAL TOUCHES 3

Getting ready
Find the editorial norms of a publisher you like and fix the text

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