Course: How to edit your first draft

Hi all,

I hope you’re all well and enjoying the summer! One of my favourite parts of my work as an agent is to work editorially with my clients. I love this part because I get to read an early draft and then my author and I discuss the endless possibilities it gives us and settle on how to make the story shine.

I’ve condensed in an online course what I do when I tackle a first edit and what questions I ask of my authors and also which aspects I feel need to be worked on first. I do all of this in my brain as I read and take small notes, but I organise it more or less in this way when I feedback to my authors.

I know editing can feel daunting and possibly makes you feel like you’re an awful writer. But editing is not like that, it’s a totally normal part of the process and one everyone has to go through. It’s actually a conversation between the story you have in your brain and the one you put down on paper. Sometimes the one you have on paper is the story in the order it came to you, other times it’s in chronological order of what happens to your characters. When you re-read the novel, you realise that while it is one way of telling the story, it may not be the best way to do it. The editing process is about reading the book critically as a reader and questioning your narrative choices. It’s also when you realise that a crucial piece of information stayed in your brain and didn’t make it onto the paper.

Now, some of you may well say that the story just ‘came to you’ or that they just wrote down what the ‘muse told you to’. If that’s your process, there’s nothing wrong with that and actually it’s a great way to write for yourself or get a first draft down. However, if you are looking to be published (and therefore go through countless rounds of editing), you may want to move away from this and see yourself as the creator in the driver’s seat, making the decisions.

When I talk about analysing and querying the decisions you’ve made, I don’t necessarily mean that everything needs to change. It happens fairly often, especially if this isn’t your first book, that your instinct on some narrative decisions was spot on and after thinking through the other possibilities, you confirm your original choice. Going through your novel in this way is as valid as realising you need to rewrite the whole thing in a different tense or with a different narrator. Every first draft is a shitty first draft, ask any established writer. You need all the ingredients layed out on the chopping board before you can start preparing a dish — it’s the same for a story.

I see a lot of people tackling edits by just re-reading their book on screen and start fiddling with sentences. I think that, while this is something to do down the line, it is a waste of time to do during your first edit. This course is for you to plan your edit in the most efficient way. We will be looking at the manuscript throughout but not touching it until we have a full plan over what needs to be revised.

The course will run throughout July and August and you can join on a weekly basis. I am structuring this course for busy people with jobs/studies and/or caring responsibilities who may not be able to edit full time. Each week’s tasks will take a handful of hours to work through and can fit around your schedule. We will have Zoom check-ins every couple of weeks or so to discuss any issues (or you can email/message them outwith the Zooms and I will reply). If you’re lucky enough to be able to dedicate some good amount of time to writing and editing, you may want to wait a few weeks before joining in so you can do the whole planning of the revision in a shorter amount of time.

Here is how I will break it down weekly:

For the first week, we will be working on the story as a whole. What is your story about and what are you trying to say? What theme is it and what emotions do you want to elicit?

For the second week, we will focus on the point of view you have chosen to tell your story from. Is it the right narrator? We will also be discussing your setting (both physical place and the time). Are your choices of location and the ‘present’ for your characters the best way to tell your story?

Zoom to discuss your story, narrator and setting and any questions you may have. Join the chat to get the link or DM me!

On the fourth week, we will be discussing your characters. Are you happy with the number of characters? Are they all active participants with distinct personalities? Do their journeys make sense?

Tagging on from the previous week on characters, let’s look at dialogue. How do your characters talk to each other? Is every character speaking consistently with their personality? Does every character say exactly what they mean and how they feel?

Zoom to discuss your characters and dialogue and any questions you may have.

For the seventh week of this course, we will be tackling a big one: plot and structure. Does your character’s journey move the story forward? Do you have any setbacks, and a climax. We will be looking at pacing and tension to show how best to mix length and intensity of scenes to let your writing breathe. We will also be looking at the beginning and end: does your story start with a bang and do you tie up all your threads and make the ending satisfying?

Zoom to discuss your plot and structure and any questions you may have.

The final post of aspects to tackle will be about descriptions and the atmosphere you are conjuring. Are you setting the scene and mood for the book? We will be looking at the (dreaded!) show, don’t tell: or scene vs summary, active vs passive, drama vs narrative. We will look at advice on how not to overwrite.

Zoom to discuss your descriptions and any questions you may have.

This final week, we will wrap up the course with suggestions on how to organise your revisions, when you know when to stop, how to tackle authenticity reads and next steps.

I will be answering questions on a weekly basis by email, DM or chat but we will have Zoom sessions to discuss each session which will be advertised in the Chat if you want to subscribe and join.

This course will be open to paid subscribers only, so do consider becoming a paid subscriber to access all the content.

I have a running offer where you get a comp subscription if you buy or pre-order one of my authors’ books from an independent bookshop (3 months comp for paperback, 6 months comp for a hardback edition). Head over to this page to see the list of titles with links to my local indie Portobello Bookshop (but feel free to support your local!).

If you feel you really need this course but can’t afford the fee or a book, I am also happy to give away some comp subscriptions if you borrow books (ebook and audio too) from a library in the UK! Just message me if you have any questions.

Until next time,

Caro

PS: Instead of taking endless photos of my (dusty) bookshelves, I’ve decided to use a different visual for this course to help inspire you! I hope you’ll enjoy the art at the top of each post which I’ve pilfered from my wife’s artwork folders. Do give her a follow on her Instagram if you want to see more!

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