How to Do a Structural Edit on Your Book, Part 1 of 4

I’m in my last semester at University of Technology, Sydney. In June, I’ll have a Master of Arts in Creative Writing. Yay! One of the classes I took last year was Professional Editing. I wanted to know how editors are trained so that when I have one, I can understand what she or he is trying to do when they give me notes.

The most interesting part of the class was the second half when we learned about structural editing. My teacher, Nicola O’Shea, had been an editor at some major publishing houses and now she works as a freelance editor. She’s not only good at that job, but she really knows how to teach others how to edit someone else’s work. I asked Nicola if I could share the information she gave us and she kindly agreed. I’m going to give it to you in the way I was trying to learn it – how can I learn how to do a structural edit on my own work?

To some degree, I see structural editing as similar to buying a used car. This is not the time to check for scratches and dings in the paint or to consider how well cleaned it is. The first stage in looking at a used car is finding out whether or not it runs, whether the chassis is straight, whether the transmission is still going strong. Scratches and dings can be easily fixed later. Right now you’re looking at the major items and deciding what needs to be done about problem areas. That’s what you’re looking at when doing a structural edit – does the big picture story work?

I’m going to break this up into four parts over the next four weeks. In the first three parts I’ll be sharing with you the questions Nicola suggested the reader/editor ask when reading a piece of fiction. In the last week I’ll explain how to put a report together. Even if you’re doing this on your own work, putting it all down on paper under headings will help you organize your revisions.

The first thing you’ll do is read the entire novel beginning to end in as short a time period as you can, preferably one to two days. Don’t write on the pages. The point is to immerse yourself in the story. If you have a pen in your hand, you’re going to be fighting the urge to make notes about smaller issues. Try to keep in your head only what is actually on the page. Try to forget all the backstory and details you already know. Focus on what is written.

When you’re done reading, write down any thoughts you have about things that have been bugging you or things that didn’t seem to make sense or things you “know” but realize you never wrote down. Pretend you’re writing a reader’s report or a critique or a review.

Now ask yourself these questions about the novel:

VOICE AND CHARACTERIZATION

1. Whose story is this? Is it told by one person, several people or by an omniscient narrator? If there is a mix of voices, does the mix work? Do you find the voice(s) engaging?

2. Who are the main characters? Do you think they are sufficiently developed? If not, do you have any suggestions about how the author might make the reader feel more involved with their story(ies)?

3. Are you convinced by the characters – by their motivation, their behavior, the way they think and talk?

4. Do you think minor characters are sufficiently developed? Are there any characters you’d like to see more of – even to the extent of a new subplot or narrator? If so, how would this affect the current structure?

5. Is character development limited at all by the choice of narrative voice? If so, what ideas could you suggest to the author to resolve this?

6. Are there any characters that seem superfluous?

It will be difficult to read your own book objectively, but you’ve got to pretend you’re an editor now. Literally put on another hat, sit in another place (not your writing space!) to do the edits, pretend this is your new job. Answer each question as fully as you can. Don’t skimp. Pretend you have to turn this report in to someone who has not read the book.

Next week I’ll give you Nicola’s questions on Plot, Pace and Structure.

Nicola O’Shea is an Australian-based freelance book editor with eighteen years’ experience. She edits fiction and non-fiction for a range of publishers, and also works with authors preparing to submit their work to publishers. She teaches editing at Sydney University and the University of Technology Sydney, and runs workshops for writers wanting to learn about editing their own work. Next month her new web site will go live at www.nicolaoshea.com.