Bullseye Editing

It's taken me a while to admit this, but I started writing An Uncharted Destiny in high school, getting close to thirty years ago. If you read Journaling My Written History then you saw that little tidbit. It's something that I was... have been... am? embarrassed by for years.

Frankly, it took me so long because I didn't know what in the heck I was doing. Even with a half-dozen, college-level "Fiction Writing Classes" (I put in quotes because they were simply critique classes where everyone told each other where their writing needed to improve rather than teach you anything about writing.) I didn't know what I was doing. My first Uncharted rejection came in 2000. But I hadn't even edited it. It was a second draft. Then I picked it up sporadically, line-editing and grammar-checking until 2020. It was only then, taking dozens upon dozens of online editing classes, reading everything about writing I could find, that I actually learned to edit.

This accumulated knowledge comes (in part) from: 3 Act Structure, Save The Cat Writes a Novel, Wonderbook, Story Genius, Dani Abernathy’s class, “Finding Your Roots,” Savannah Gilbo’s class, “How to Start Planning Your Book Series,” Kerry Savage’s Worldbuilding Freebie, and dozens of various classes and online resources.

The following graphic, interpretation, and my worksheet are my own. I call it Bullseye Editing. It looks like this:

The four corners, like the four keystones of a building, are the basics to building your novel. Everything you write, then edit, should focus on those ideas. I created a worksheet with all the details on this, but it's 37 pages, and obviously I can't put that into this one little blog, so here's the simplest breakdown:

1) Find Your Why (Author): This is the reason you want to write the novel. Is it to explore grief? To explore the concept of love? To impress the truth? To right a wrong?

2) For What Reason (Reader): This is the reason the reader picks up the book. What's the initial concept? Harry Potter's is as simple as magic in our mundane world. ACOTAR spun Beauty and the Beast on its head.

3) Who's the Driver (Character): Every class I attended, every book I've read, talked about the importance of character. The character's choices, voice, and growth drive the novel, even beyond the plot.

4) When's the Catalyst (Inciting Incident): This is where the novel actually begins, where the idea becomes a story. Without it, your piece is just ideas.

Since learning about these concepts, I've written with those four corners in mind. That's not to say my character remains the same from concept through execution and ultimately editing, but rather that if I have a solid character concept, the piece offers more to work with.

In my opinion, you never start on the bullseye until you have that first draft in your hand. The four corners are designed to get you through it, and then editing begins. And editing ALWAYS, always, ALWAYS works from the biggest ring to the smallest.

When I started editing Uncharted, I didn't understand this concept, and started with the line edits. I worried about spelling and grammar. I didn't understand a structure edit until after my first beta readers had said major things weren't working and linked me to the 3 Act Structure. From what I can tell, based on reading other new authors' work, most new authors believe editing is line edits, spelling, and grammar. It's unfortunately what we're taught in school.

But if not on line edits, how do we start? Like the four corners, I've broken this into four pieces too, but each edit is essential and can feel huge. I recommend giving yourself a break from your first draft (usually 2-5 weeks, but sometimes I've gone as long as 4-6 months if I'm drafting another project.)

I'll open my first draft and do a "Save As:" then title it completely new. (Nothings worse than cutting and pasting and losing bits and pieces.) Mine looks like: "Working Title. Rev. 1. Structural Edit."

Then, with a fresh printout (or the new doc in Google docs) I do a full read-through, marking on the page or in a notebook beside it structural bits that are awesome or awful. I have to admit - I do a minor sweep of grammar / line edits through it (like I just realized I've been spelling Kenni and Kennie throughout), but I'm trying to edit that part of me out.

My primary goal is to focus on plot structure. I fill out my structure worksheet and double-check my "percentages," (I'll break those down later, or you can look at the 3-Act Structure website I linked earlier.) verifying that anything out of "recommended" order has a reason behind it. Ultimately, I am the writer, and I get to decide what's where, but it's always good to see how the "experts" do it in comparison.

Then I implement it all. Sometimes this takes a full rewrite. Usually it takes some level of swapping chapters around, cutting sections and moving others, and smoothing things in.

When I feel like it's ready, I narrow in on that bullseye. I do a new "Save As:" which looks like "Working Title. Rev. 2. Character and Emotion Edit."

This one I read through with the focus on the emotional turmoil my characters are going through. I watch for growth, for places where things were too easy for them, or they sound whiny or problematic. If I have multiple characters, sometimes I have to read it from different points of view to make sure I'm true to each individual character. I'm also very aware of characters that are doing the same thing twice: do I need a mother and an aunt if they're both saying the same things and feel the same to the reader or can I simplify the piece down by having the mother OR the aunt?

Typically, I read my dialogue aloud to ensure it feels natural. Sometimes I'll ask my husband or brother for a male perspective if my masculine characters don't feel quite right. And yes, I almost always have some level of line or grammar checking going on too... and, you guessed it, I'm still trying to edit that out.

When everything is implemented and polished with my character and emotion edit, I step in again. We're getting close to the bullseye now, so the piece should really be close to the finished project. If at all possible, I like to take a 2-3 week break between the character edit and the tension edit. It helps you get fresh eyes and feel the actual tension in the piece.

Again, we want to save it as a new doc. "Working Title. Rev. 3. Tension Edit." This one I print out. I like the ability to quickly highlight anything I feel is slow, I watch for moments I skim, for chapters I don't really want to read, or places I start thinking about my bodily needs. Simply highlighting them as you read allows you to come back to it after the fact to analyze why you felt it was slow, rushed, or boring.

Only when everythings been worked out in that revision do I narrow in a final time, but this one gets the super exciting new name: "Working Title. Final Draft." I almost always read the entire book start to finish aloud at this point.

Now it should be noted, sometimes when deep in my edits, I find something I need to adjust in a prior ring. When those arise, I tend to do "software" labels on those unfortunate changes. For example, I followed through the entire structure and character edit on my Christmas romance before sending to one of my beta readers, only to really discover my ending has failed us all! So, I am labeling the new doc, "Customized Christmas. Rev. 2.1 - Revisiting Structure." That way I know I was in my Character & Emotion edits when I went backwards. My characters and emotions might need to continue work, or I might be ready to move onto tension.

When I've completed my "Bullseye" edit, I send to betas. After analyzing their notes,

and deciding if I agree, I go through a second round, if needed.

Editing takes practice. It takes years to perfect, patience to develop a thick skin, and a lot of trial and error to figure out what is right for you. But, hopefully you'll find your target to help you get your bullseye.