Pre-editing PRE-EDITING 1 PRE-EDITING 2

The Heart of the Novel The Title of the Novel

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?

PRE-EDITING 3 PRE-EDITING 4 First Revision

Readers Feedback
Who are your ideal readers? Who’s reading the story right now? Dare to dream: what feedback would you like to receive? What to do before a first read-through

FOCAL POINTS 1 FOCAL POINTS 2 FOCAL POINTS 3

Plot Check Meaning Check Structure Check

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? Is this the best order to tell the story?

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 FOCAL POINTS 4 FOCAL POINTS 5 FOCAL POINTS 6

Characters Narrator Feedback Revision

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?

How do you want to solve them?

Why are those problems there?

What might their origin be?
To-do List

Thoughts
PROCESS

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

SYMPTOMS
Second Revision
indicating changes already made

(fast)
Move on this line the post-its
Done
PROCESS

Too Fast
Start from the Symptoms to find new problems to be solved Lazy writing style? Expand, show, excite

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 SYMPTOMS SYMPTOMS SYMPTOMS

(slow) (bumpy) (cut)

Too Slow Bumpy or Fractured Wastepaper

Cut, break or transform into dialogue Cut, clean up, find the right words Rewrite, delete. How come is it so bad?

SYMPTOMS SYMPTOMS SYMPTOMS

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

Bravo Something isn’t adding up Settings-related Problems

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

(characters*) (dialogues*)

How often does the symptom

or problem appear?
Frequency
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?

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 Third Revision

problem? What impact does it have?

How serious is the symptom or

Where does the symptom

or problem come from?
Impact

Cause
ANALYSIS

ANALYSIS
Chapter by chapter, review out loud

COMMON ISSUES COMMON ISSUES COMMON ISSUES

(s/t) (pov) (clichés)

Show vs Tell Point of View Issues Clichés & Co.

Did you tell too much? Is the POV not clear? Look for perspective errors Beware of weak metaphors, gerund, italics, common places

COMMON ISSUES COMMON ISSUES COMMON ISSUES

(adj/adv) (tags) (see o/c)

Adjectives and Adverbs Dialogue Tags Openings and Closings

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?

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 COMMON ISSUES
Final Touches FINAL TOUCHES 1
(end)

The Ending Repetitions and Frequent Devices

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?

FINAL TOUCHES 2 FINAL TOUCHES 3 Pre-editing

Cleaning up Getting ready

Do a light proofread Find the editorial norms of a publisher you like and fix the text A brief reflection before re-reading the text

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