When a book gets edited, it’ll usually happen in two rounds.
Round One is called the structural edit. This is where the editor will look at the big picture stuff. Does the story make sense? Does it have a logical progression? Is it well structured with a beginning, middle and end? Is it well paced, or is it a bit slow/boring in some places? Are the characters interesting and believable? Do the characters’ decisions and actions make sense? Often, big changes will happen when I re-write after a structural edit.
For example, two major changes happen to Game On, the first book in my Gamers trilogy. First of all, I lost an entire chapter. The novel was is in two halves, with a slow bridging chapter to ease readers from one half to the next. But the editor pointed out that the bridging chapter was a bit long and BORING. So I dumped it.
But another change saw me adding some new scenes. The two heroes of the book, Tark and Zyra, are being chased by a criminal called the Cracker. In the original version, after a big chase scene, they escape from the Cracker and we never see the criminal again. The editor pointed out that the Cracker was the second main villain and a really interesting character, and that I couldn’t just have him disappear without readers knowing what had happened to him. So I added in a confrontation where we find out exactly what happens to him and why he stops chasing Tark and Zyra.
Round Two is called the copy edit. This is where the editor will go over EVERY SINGLE WORD I’ve written. They’ll highlight all my grammatical mistakes. They’ll point out every time I’ve misused a word. Or over used a particular word or phrase. They’ll also make suggestions for more or less description, and choice of words.
Here’s a page from the copy edit of Monster Island…
Copy editing MONSTER ISLAND.
The whole point of editing it to make the book better… to make it the best it can possibly be.
Tune in next time to find out how I go about writing the interactive You Choose books.
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