Coming to the end of a rough draft is exhilarating thing. You now know that you can do it, that you have done it. The fact that you have created a complete novel is something that does not get old, even after completing many novels. Every rough draft will need to be edited, no matter how good you think you are at the writing process. Some of the steps involved in editing will go quicker than others if you have a good grasp of the basics such as grammar, formatting and punctuation.

The editing process can be compared to cleaving, cutting and polishing a diamond. Diamonds take a long time to form, and when they are mined from the earth, they are rough but still beautiful. Each stage in the process is important and essential to getting the most potential out of the tough gem.

Cleaving is the part of editing that can be started right after you have typed the end. This is where you step back and take a look at the large picture. Macro editing. Do you feel satisfied with your ending at that very moment? Do you have scenes that you will need to insert to make more sense out of your ending? Do you have a character that you need to develop more or one that you need to get rid of all together?

I recommend not actually making any of those changes right away. The diamond cleaver turns the rough gem in his hand and makes observations, sets the diamond in a type of cement and walks away from it, letting it cool. I suggest writing your observations and to do list down in notes, backup your draft one final time and then put it away for a minimum of thirty days.

During that waiting period, relax and celebrate, but also start working on a new project. Work on rough notes and an outline for a new book or if you do not have an idea for a new story, find writing prompts and exercises that will challenge you and possibly give you some ideas. A week before you start editing, spend some time reading advice from others on the editing process.

When you come back to the manuscript, read it from page one to the last. With a fresh perspective on it you can start working on those notes that you made earlier with confidence and precision. Adjust your ending, rewrite your beginning, remove characters or scenes that don’t further the plot and add the foreshadowing details that add depth to the novel and give more meaning to the ending. After you are finished with the macro editing, put the manuscript away again. For a day, a week or longer if you need to and come back to it, ready to do the micro editing.

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