After yet another enforced absence (pressure of work, feeble excuse, I know) I'm back, to continue the description of the editing process.
Last time (and it was, believe it or not about ten weeks ago,) we discussed the panel of readers, their feedback and how to put all the comments into a spreadsheet.
This time, I'm going to look at what we actually do with the spreadsheet.
In other words, how to actually edit.
So, In chapter 1, scene 1, we have reviewer A's comment:
The actual sentence was:
Tightly closed doors seemed to deny welcome or solace.
So that's easily changed, since I agree with the reviewer.
Tightly closed doors denied welcome or solace.
That's quite straight forward, isn't it?
But what about where reviewers say 'You need to add more action in the first ten chapters.'
How does one go about doing that?
Well, ahem, by adding more action and conflict and pace.
In this instance, I have to add to the plot.
I had a coherent plot, but, as with all books, the reality deviates from the plan by quite a margin. So, in order to change the plot and add bits, I have to know what's in the plot now, in terms of theme, motivation, character arc, sub-plots and so on.
That's best done by writing a treatment - in other words, re-analysing the book using the snowflake method.
Which I'll apply to this book and detail in my next post.
Until then, enjoy!
