Lesson 7: Editing and Polishing
As I said in an earlier lesson, while writing your first draft, it's more important to focus on getting your story down than on creating fine writing. Now that you've got the hang of writing for quantity, let's look at writing for quality. In this lesson, I'll discuss tips to keep in mind while writing and while fine tuning your rough draft.
Reading Through Your Novel
If by some miraculous feat you've already completed your first draft, put it away for at least a couple of weeks. During this time, take a break from writing, read a novel, or begin a new project. Whatever you do, resist the urge to read and edit your novel. This time away from your story will give you an objective ear from which to experience your story as a first reader would.
After several weeks, take out your novel and read through it as you would a novel written by someone else, but don't change anything yet. As you read, note the things you wish to change, questions that were not answered, goals that were not reached, or problems that were not resolved.
