Time for the forest

Alright, so we've covered the process for writing the first draft and now we're diving into editing. (For a list of posts in the writing process series, click on the Steps for Writing a Novel tab up top.)

I always dive into the second draft wanting to fix everything right away. I want to nail down every comma, every word choice, and every character trait during my first read through. In short, I want to make everything perfect as quick as I can.

RESIST THE TEMPTATION. It's really overwhelming when you're trying to fix everything from facts to deleting adverbs to deepening your characters to smoothing out transitions. The easier way to do this is to fix the big stuff first. Focus on the forest.

Remember how we talked about writing in scenes is like paying attention to each tree in the forest? In your second draft, you're going to widen your scope so you're studying the forest - the overall story.

It's best if you can read your manuscript in as few sittings as possible. Ideally one. I haven't been able to do that in years, though, and I've still survived, so just do the best you can. Here is what you're examining and taking notes on as you read:

Characters

How's their growth throughout the story? Take notes about which characters need more fleshing out or where characters do something that doesn't settle right. Are characters agreeing too much with each other? Much of your conflict comes from the relationships in the story, so it's important for your characters to not see eye-to-eye on everything.

Plot

Is anything predictable or cliché? What happens too fast and what happens too slow? What research still needs to be done? And - this is something I do all the time - is there foreshadowing early on that GOES NOWHERE. I can't even count the amount of times I've foreshadowed something in the first half of the book, then completely spaced that plotline in the second half.

Pacing

How's the pacing? Are you too dialogue heavy or too narrative heavy? Mark places that will need to be balanced. Is your opening too sluggish with back story? Is your middle sagging with unimportant details? Is your ending rushed?

Theme and Symbolism

Sometimes we have a theme in mind, and other times (the best times, often) the theme arises naturally out of the story. Are there places where you can do better at drawing out the theme? Likewise (and this is common especially if you write for the Christian market) are there places where you've fallen into preaching? Nobody bought your book to be preached at - they bought it for a good story. Make sure you're delivering.

Also, is there anything that has risen organically from the story that can be used as a symbol? I watched a commentary on the movie The Sixth Sense and M. Night Shyamalan said in scenes right before the kid (I can only think of his real-life name, not his movie name) encounters trouble, they slipped in something colored red. Like when he's at the party, he follows a red balloon upstairs. (Seems like his sweater is red too, but maybe I'm wrong. It's been awhile.)

By breaking it up this way - focusing on big stuff, then delving into the details - you're going to save yourself a lot of time. Because who wants to spend an hour perfecting a scene ... only to have to do a major revision on it later because you realize this plot line isn't working?

I'm curious, are you intentional about theme and/or symbolism, or do you find it just somehow happens? One time in high school, a friend read one of my manuscripts and was so impressed with me because the main character's first love was named Bradley Carver. His initials were "B.C." She thought I was being all awesome and signalling to the reader that he belonged in her past, not her future. I was like, "Oh, yeah ... didn't even notice that..."