The Snowflake Chronicles

December Fantasy newsletter (2013)

After NaNoWriMo the Work Begins

Where do I start rewriting and editing my NaNoWriMo Novel?


"More than a half, maybe as much as two-thirds of my life as a writer is rewriting. I wouldn't say I have a talent that's special. It strikes me that I have an unusual kind of stamina." - John Irving

'I would write a book, or a short story, at least three times'once to understand it, the second time to improve the prose, and a third to compel it to say what it still must say. Somewhere I put it this way: first drafts are for learning what one's fiction wants him to say. Revision works with that knowledge to enlarge and enhance an idea, to reform it. Revision is one of the exquisite pleasures of writing.' - Bernard Malamud


First, I want to congratulate everyone who participated in National Novel Writing Month. Now the real work begins because it is time to rewrite and edit your novel. This process is more then just making sure the grammar is correct and all the words are spell properly,. You have to make sure that the fight scenes are exciting and appear authentic to the reader. You have to make sure that the magic or the technology used are consistent with with the cultural of the age or the planet. You have to check the little things like eye color and names. You have to be sure that the descriptions enhance the plot or the action and do not slow the pace of a chapter.


I think I wrote something about editing last year or perhaps the year before. This year I encountered a couple of problems that were new to me or perhaps I did not notice before. One of them concerned the name of a minor character. I called the woman by one name the first couple of chapters and then by a different name in later chapters. I now have to go back, with a hard copy and a red pen, to change the name back to what it was at the beginning. This means I have to check every chapter that woman was in to make the correction.

The next issue I have to tackle in rewriting is inconsistency. I find this occurs when a character suddenly takes over the narrative, which means the story line and plot move in an entirely new direction. I outlined the story before I started, but this happened anyway. It could be my fault for not reviewing the outline before I began writing each chapter or there could be another cause. Whatever caused the issue, I now have to decide if I want to keep the material and rewrite the beginning of the novel. As I go back through the chapters I have to make sure that the plot and character descriptions are consistent.

Questions to answer when rewriting:

1. Are the fight scenes authentic?
2. Is the technology consistent with cultural and background of the story?
3. Are the description of your characters consistent and believable within the context of the story?
4. When rewriting and editing are you using a hard copy rather then attempting to do it on the computer?
5. Do you have someone to read your edited copy before you submit it for publication?