The first job in editing

As a novel writer, I like to keep in mind the age old adage: If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll never know when you’ve arrived.

When I’ve finished the first draft of a manuscript I ask myself the question, “Have I arrived at my planned destination? Have I written the novel I set out to write?”

At the outset I planned to write a novel that answered certain questions:

1.     Who is the story about

2.     What was that character’s problem?

3.     What was the main obstacle to a solution

4.     How was the obstacle overcome

 Now I look at that first draft and ask myself if I’ve answered all those questions. If the answer is yes, I’ve got a plausible novel. I can then set about tweaking the minor points and amending the typos with an easy mind.