How to Start Editing Your Novel: A Technique for Gaining Perspective

Thanks!

<3

This is so incredibly helpful ❤ I wish I could 'like' it a million times! You explain everything in a workable, empathetic, clear and simple way. Thank you for sharing these valuable insights, Ellen!

I'm an author and literary editor, and this video came to me at the perfect time (proctastinating editing my current manuscript...)! This is such a good "deepening" of my current wishlist style of editing, which is basically what it says on the tin: make a list of all the things you wish were different about the book and tackle them one by one. We need more writing advice focused on the mental/mindset side of things tbh. (English is not my first language, hope this makes sense still!)

Your advice and videos are very helpful Ellen well done !

Hey, do you know where I can get an affordable developmental editor?

Turns out I don't like the wip i'm doing right now.
I really want to go back to my older wip, that noone but me liked ^_^°
welp. I love it anyway so back I go!
Thank you for making me see that clearer!

I love this method! I used it for my "1st" draft. You have amazing tips. I currently rewatch all you writer types and all editing tips videos. Amazing!

👍🏻

👍🏻

Your channel is the absolute BEST.

This is a really helpful way to get started on a revision! Thank you so much for helping me develop confidence in my own abilities to tackle my revision.

I love your focus on "rediscovering the original vision", that's so refreshing to me; so many writing videos seem to encourage getting as far as possible from what you originally wanted

great stuff.

This video was probably one of your best; full of useful techniques. I'm in the process of writing a series of seven short stories (completing first draft first, then going back). I've already set up an outline the way you described and expect to make significant progress. Thanks.

Thanks. Great advice. A take on, "finish it first." I often get bogged down in wording and sentence flow when editing... only to find that I need to cut details I've fussed over when editing scenes. Same happens with entire scenes or chapters when I look at the bigger picture. All that fussing for nothing. Your advice will help me here: finish the novel first, and then go back with a structured checklist. And polish afterward.

I have a completed novel on my hard-drive. The middle section drags, disrupting the narrative flow. I'm going to go through that novel using your advice to (hopefully) salvage it.

Thank you.

I have found a program called Doc to MP3 converter to be an excellent editing device. I get to listen to how it sounds when read and I have been able to make a lot of changes. While listening to it, I sometimes come up with ideas to improve a scene in the book. Granted some ideas have not decided on yet but it been great. In one novel, I deleted 15 percent of the novel because some stuff did not work. This along with what Ms brock suggestion will help even more! Thank you!

I’m an underwriter. So, yes, realizing that something is unnecessary clutter and deciding to cut it is both shocking and painful. Yet still needed.

I have watched this video a few times but thanks for the show notes. Much appreciated!!!

The first video I've watched, for which the speaker conducts herself with professionalism. Thank you for this.

Dear Ellen, can you come up with a video about where and how to find good editors and beta readers?

Best editing video and channel ever!!

Using placeholders is so helpful when completing a first draft! Otherwise I'll just edit as I write. -_-

So... What do you do when you realize that you tell your story with smaller fragments, not all perfect packaged scenes, but each fragment either shows the character, progresses the plot, or shows “progress” being made? And the fragments all have continuity? I’m an intuitive pantser, and trying to outline what I already have done for my sixth draft is kind of overwhelming. My story doesn’t progress in 10 larger scenes. It progresses in small, medium, and large scenes. Sometimes there’s five smaller scenes in one chapter. Other times a scene spans across more than one chapter. I don’t feel in my gut what I’m doing is wrong, but how am I supposed to outline that and not freak out just looking at the giant list? Is an editor going to look at my story style and throw the manuscript out the window?

This is so brilliant thank you

Not only HIGHLY motivational, but everything about Ellen is wise. Every time I get to the point that writing stresses me beyond belief, I get energy just finding nuggets of gold Ellen shares. Thank you Ellen. I feel like you are by my side through my journey in writing and in the times I am almost too stressed to carry on and drop it all to go into becoming a full time artist, you are right there with words of encouragement. You give me belief in myself.

Great! Thanks. I guess I was on the right track with a "reverse outline" and scene layout. I also love the categorization suggestion, love, hate, indifferent. I was thinking of something similar, "need to have", "nice to have", "remove". I love your standard poodle! Looks a lot like my Labradoodle's father!

Thank you ❤

Hi Ellan
Trust you are well. Thank you for your presentation . I have problem with editing my book. I have some writings but haven’t been able to move on. What should I do?
I won’t be able to edit it. I have given it to some hands but not totally professional. What should I do?
Thank you

I'm just starting to work in developmental editing and this was SUPER helpful! It really helped me to get into the mindset of the writer as well. Thanks!

Thanks for reminding me that editing is supposed to be hard!!! ❤️

Excellent video. Thank you. Clear delivery and on point. You have given me some things to try to develop a method that works for me.

I'm embarking on my first ever revision for my first ever rough draft, and I was looking for some way to organize the process. Of course I own multiple books on editing, revision, characterization and structure....but none of them really tell you how to approach actually starting to revise a single piece of work. So, thank you for making this!

Can you edit my book? Ha ha that would be brilliant dx

This is Pure Gold

Good afternoon. Are your techniques just for novel writing or can I use your technique for a collection of poetry.

The thing about Ellen is that she thinks about storytelling the same way I do. So it's very easy for me to walk away from any video having learned something valuable. Thank you for keeping up all the great info, Ellen!

Good sharing

I feel like I’m gonna have to do some msjor edits in order to keep my character’s love interest who doesn’t really do much of anything but they do have really cute scenes together

thank you so much for your advice! Editing is a nightmare for me (i'm terrible trying to organize myself) and I think this could be an easy way to find what I need to change in my novel :)

I'm about to start editing for the first time. I'm really glad I found this video because I have no idea what I'm doing. It's a bit ovetwhelming.

Hi Ellen, Just a line to record my appreciation for the way you explain everything in your videos. Yours is a simple direct method that gets registered with the viewers effortlessly. Thanks again.

Thank you for putting an educational channel like this one. I've binged watched almost all your videos and learned alot from them in putting my novel together. I appreciate it and please make more content on your channel, please.

Love, Hate or Indifferent. Who writes things they hate? No, too strong a word. Indifferent and Love are all that is necessary. Perhaps we should focus on improving the indifferent. On a side note, i didn't know you had an Emu for a pet!!!

what do you mean it's a bad idea to get hung up on all the little details before I'm even sure if I'm gonna include the scene in the end??

This is such a helpful video. I didn't even know where to start editing my novel; I knew there were things that could have been done a lot better, but this technique has helped me get to the root of all of my novel's problems and start thinking about how to fix them. Thanks for making this!

I really love the things you reveal. I thought editing was something very different from what you present. It is like I am having an "out-of-body-experience". I am getting there now and don't feel so restricted within fear and doubt. Thanks again!

Definitely a helpful way to do it!

This is really, really helpful. Thank you!