Michigan::Flint Red Hot Writers

NaNoEdMo or National Novel Editing Month goes hand in hand with almost any Red Hot Writers goal. After writing the 50k novel in November, every writer I know has to take time out and edit their work.  That is where the month of March, the NaNoEdMo month comes into play.  Back in the day, NaNoEdMo used to be a lively, active forum for the purpose of editing your novels. 50 hours of editing in 30 days is what made you a NaNoEdMo winner. The original site went defunct, and while ML’s from NaNoWriMo are rebuilding and revamping the site. Right now you can hope over to the new main page and sign up to be updated when NaNoEdMo starts up.

While we wait for NaNoEdMo to come back to life, I’ll share with you some tips from the once grand and glorious old site.

Chomping at the bit to get started even though March is months/weeks/days/even mere hours away? Plan your attack with these simple steps.

1. Step away from the novel
   Once you’ve completed your first draft, print it out and put it in a drawer. This will give you distance from the project and let your mind breathe. Most writing teachers suggest 7-10 days. I prefer a month.
2. Read through
   After a month in a drawer, your novel will be far enough from your mind that it will feel like someone else wrote it. Read it as though it was — straight through in one sitting if you can. Ignore the typos and poorly constructed sentences and focus on the meat of the thing — the story. You will be tempted to make notes and corrections as you go. RESIST! If you must, you can make broad marks in the margin — an arrow or circled paragraph — but do not get caught up in the minutia. It will prevent you from experiencing your story the way it was meant to be experienced — the way your reader will experience it. Afraid to face it? Arrange a read-in with other NaNos. Just like writing, reading will be less daunting in a group.
3. Note your initial reactions
   Once you’ve read through the whole thing (and congratulated yourself on your discipline), make note of your general reactions. Does it flow? Do you like the characters? Are there huge gaping holes? Does it tell the story you wanted to tell (and if not, does it tell another equally interesting one)? Do you need to add or delete people, places, things or scenes? Don’t get hung up on the nitty gritty here. Just focus on the big picture. Look at the forest. You’ll have plenty of time later to deal with the trees.
4. Outline/diagram/map what you’ve got
   I like to make a chapter-by-chapter list of everything that happens and who is involved. Another writer friend prefers to do mind maps. I’ve known people who have done wonderful things with the outline feature of Microsoft® Word. Whatever method you prefer, create some sort of picture of the thing as a whole — including the pieces that make it up — so you can easily see what happens where and when and what, if anything, might be missing.
5. Plan how to fill the holes
   Make notes on your outline, in a separate notebook or directly on a copy of your novel. Do any necessary research. Do the planning you couldn’t do during NaNoWriMo. Decide what story you are trying to tell and create a roadmap for making that happen.

There you go Red Hots – some small but well worn tips on how to begin getting ready for the second hardest part of writing a novel – editing it!

Ciao for now

Cyli aka eensybeensyspider