In learning how to write, I have studied many books on craft and grammar and attended many workshops. I honestly can’t recall where I got this advice from, but it works. Editing by levels.
Level one is at the level of the word. When you said ran, did you mean bolted? Trotted? Zipped? Darted? As Mark Twain tells us, the difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between the lightning and the lightning bug. At least, I’ve heard that quote attributed to him. But quotes are attributed to the wrong person all the time. Do you need that word? Words and phrases like very, a little, a lot, mostly, and pretty much every adverb in the world do exactly the OPPOSITE of what you think they will do. For example, “She loved him very much.” “She loved him.” See? It’s almost like when you say “very,” you are saying “It’s true love! Honestly! Really gritty, deep stuff! Believe me!” And when you state it as a fact, it’s a fact and that’s it. She loved him. That sounds like “I dare you to argue.”
Level two is at the level of the sentence. Several things I keep in mind here. A) Did I start the sentence with “I”? That happens all too often in first person narrative. Can I change it neatly? Do so. If not? Leave it. B) Where is the most important word? It should be the very first word or the very last word. This truly does give more impact. Try rearranging a sentence once so that the biggest idea word in it is either the first or last. The difference is subtle, but there. That’s enough to make an impact on your reader. C) How long is the sentence? I read a book once with this advice (can’t honestly recall which book, or I’d give credit. I think it was “Getting the Words Right” by Theodore Cheney) “How long should a sentence be? As short as possible. The best sentence? The shortest.” Yes. But make sure not to get too Morse code-y. Too many super-short sentences in a row give a dot-dot-dash dash-dot-dot feel to the prose, which feels like a woodpecker knocking on your brain as you read. Ugh. D) Is the sentence passive or active, and do I mean it to be that way? I’ve heard a few pieces of advice on how to identify active and passive sentences, like “Look for adverbs” and “Watch out for the word ‘was.'” Neither of these has helped, since they’re not true all the time. A passive sentence is when the subject is having something done to them. You just have to learn what the subject of a sentence is, and how to tell if they’re being acted upon. If you want them to be acted upon in that particular instance, like they’re being stalked or harmed or you want to emphasize their helplessness over a particular situation, let them be acted upon. If not, switch it up so they are doing something. The sentence is stronger that way.
Level three is the paragraph. There’s nothing that really dictates what a paragraph is. It’s supposed to be a series of connected ideas, but in novel writing, all the ideas are connected. Or should be, anyway. Paragraphs tend to represent a slight subject change. Like someone taking a breath and saying “so anyway . . .” It’s a feel, all in the ear. I tend to try to use too many one sentence paragraphs for emphasis. This works great if you don’t do it too much. Do it too much and it just gets distracting. Does that paragraph really need to be on its own? Attach it to the paragraph ahead of or behind it. Does it work better there? Don’t just guess, DO IT. Is it better? Yes? Leave it. No? Put it back on its own.
Level four is the chapter or segment. What’s the main point of action? The main idea in the chapter? Did you accomplish that? Is it too short, too long? Again, this is a feel thing, and many authors vary on how long chapters should be. I’ve read books where the “chapters” were a page to a page and a half, others where the chapters went on for pages and pages. You have to decide what fits your story best and roll with that. Not every style will fit every story, I’ve used different lengths for all my books now. Now did you leave the chapter or segment on a “I want to read more” point? Do. That’s called a hook. It brings the reader back for the next chapter. (Or keeps them up past their bedtime. Heehee!) Try to do that.
Level five is the level of the story. What is your story arc? What’s your beginning, middle, and end? Stick to that. Trim things that don’t fit. Kill your darlings, my dears, I don’t care how much you love that scene, if it doesn’t fit, it’s fat, cut it. You can always make a copy of it and keep it for you to read, but within the story it just makes things chewy and unpleasant. Is something important? Bring it up 3 times. I love 3s. Gardeners love 3s, cooks love 3s, any kind of aesthetic art does well with 3s. If 3 simply won’t do, use 5. 3 stages to conflict resolution: The conflict is introduced, the conflict gets worse, the conflict is resolved in some epic character-changing or defining stand-off. If you like, 5 works too: Introduce the character, introduce the conflict, the conflict gets worse, the conflict is resolved, see the character off into the sunset. Important points within the story can use 3s as well, but don’t get carried away. How important is the point? Does it need 3 mentions? If it involves the main character, the secondary character, or the main plot, go for 3. If it has to do with supporting characters or subplots, leave it out. It’s also not bad to have 3 subplots. I don’t always stick faithfully to 3s, sometimes you just have to whittle everything down to: is it important to the main character? Is it important to the secondary character? Is it important to the main plot? If no to these questions, cut it. I recently found myself in the position of having a story that felt too pat, the end came, the character did what she was supposed to do, she resolved her conflict, done. Boring! I needed to add in more obstacles. Be careful that if you run into this problem A) you’re actually adding to the story and not just self-gratifying by keeping the characters going past when they need to stop, B) the added bits don’t feel tacked on. They likely will at first. Keep editing until they don’t.
The first time I started using this level system to edit, I felt like it was a lot of damn grunt work. After doing it, though, I see how it makes a story stronger. And as has been said many, many times, writing is re-writing. You will always, always spend more time editing a book then writing it. I didn’t used to think that had to be the case, and I turned out some pretty weak and ugly writing. Once I started editing hard-core, I saw major improvements. I’ve met many, many beginning writers who say, “Oh, my work doesn’t need editing.” That’s kind of like saying you shit gold bricks. Whatever you may think, it ain’t so, not for you, not for me, not for anyone. I know you want to be the special butterfly who doesn’t have to conform to the same grunt work that everyone else does, but trust me: I’m not, and neither are you. HOWEVER, edit hard, and let your readers think you are. 😉
