Ah, editing, the most important part of the writing process. Of course, it also has to be the most excruciatingly boring aspect of it as well. Nonetheless, it must be done. Like budgeting for an awesome vacation to Europe or the Caribbean islands, you better do it properly, or you'll wind up broke, miserable, and possibly stranded (figuratively speaking for the last one). So how do you do it? Follow these seven steps:
1) Always keep a copy of the first draft. That way, you can harvest ideas to us in other stories, recover important details and scenes that you accidentally cut in haste, and remind yourself of your humble beginnings.
2) Review the criticism that you have received. Accept the advice of the people who know what they are talking about and who are consistent with your vision of the story. Shred everything else.
3) Toss the junk. Fire characters that are lame, dull, or annoying. Remove scenes that put you to sleep faster than Benadryl. Cut dialogue that sounds like it was written by a dirty-minded middle schooler. Get rid of plots that go all over the place to wind up absolutely nowhere.
4) Polish the gem that remains. Tweak details, refine grammar, and do other minor fixes to make it as good as possible.
5) Seek more feedback and repeat steps 1-4 if necessary. This is a definite necessity if you are writing a book.
6) Leave it alone when it has finally reached its peak. Revising is like lifting weights: if you do it too much, you will only make yourself weaker. Trust your gut to tell you when it is ready and submit it.
7) If an editor offers to buy it if you make more revisions, do what they say unless it violates the integrity of the work. For example, if they feel that you are overbearing in the delivery of your pro-life message and want you to be more subtle, find a way to express the theme through the character's actions and their consequences instead of preaching. If they want you to change your pro-life message to a pro-choice message, find another magazine or publisher. Immediately.
Follow these steps and you will not only revise your story. You will revamp it and make it awesome!
