3 Mistakes Writers Make After Typing “The End”
Your fingers finally punch out those two glorious words—The End—and then excitement, relief, and god knows what else pours out. It’s a complete rush. Amazing. It really is. Pat yourself on the back; have a damn party.
Unfortunately, the party doesn’t always last as long as it should. As writers, we know we’re faced with the next big phase. It stares us in the face, so we step up to stare it down. But in that enthusiasm to finish the darn thing, we make mistakes. Mistakes that could hinder the next phase (which to me is where the real magic happens).
So here are the top three mistakes I see writers make as they barrel into the editing phase of their novel.
Mistake #1: Not Letting Your Manuscript Rest
Seriously. Put the manuscript down. Step away from the desk. It is for the good of your story. The biggest mistake I see writers make is to barrel right into the revision phase after writing without letting the story rest. I know you’ve heard it before, but it really matters. When you finish a novel draft, you’re filled with all sorts of emotions and ties to the story, character, and the world you created. It's natural.
However, when you take a break and let your brain and creativity spin on a new thing, a shift happens. Your brain distances itself. This rest time allows your brain to gain enough space to see holes, mistakes, and opportunities. You’ll be able to see the characters and their struggle like your readers do—with fresh(er) eyes.
I call this the editing sweet spot.
If you go play on another project for at least four weeks, your brain can come back refreshed and see this wonderful thing you created with a new perspective. Trust me. You will find as a few weeks go by, not only do you start to miss your story, but you start to feel differently about it. You might have new thoughts about its themes or characters or how characters reacted in certain situations. That is what story-level editing takes.
Mistake #2: Not Revisiting Your Whys
Why we wrote the story is often tied to the theme and tends to be why readers attach to certain stories. When we as writers set out to create a story, we sometimes find that the story takes us in a different direction than we expected. Maybe a theme evolves or a new one emerges. Maybe our protagonist changed in a wonderfully unexpected way and ended up wanting or needing something we did not foresee. This all matters in the end as you prepare to revise at a story level.
When we don’t assess where we started and where we ended in our writing of a story, we can miss major areas of revision. After the rest time discussed above, I like to push writers to revisit their “whys.”
A couple of things happen when you go back to the foundation bits of the story.
One, you remind yourself what you, as a writer, set out to do. What was your purpose? What message did you want to leave with readers? This why tends to be tied to the theme(s). This “why” should be a major driver in your revisions. Did you do what you set out to do all the way through your novel?
Other “whys” to consider are around your protagonist and antagonist and why they are in the situations they find themselves in, why do they want to escape or not escape that situation, and why do they feel they cannot or do not want to change. Another character “why” that’s near and dear to my heart is why they wanted what they did. Often writers set up their character's desire, but they ignore how vital the why behind that want is. It is the “why” in these situations that the reader grabs onto.
We all want a better-paying job, but when a character wants it for a really deep reason (like to pay for their son’s surgery), readers emotionally grasp onto it. They root for them.
So when you revisit those elements, assess whether your characters changed in the way you expected. If not, is it believable and does their journey still line up with their whys? You can and should also use these “whys” to add depth to your characters and their experiences.
Two, it should re-energize you to see what you set out to do and validate that it is done. It’s like a self-editing pep talk before you revise. And we all need a pep talk before this phase.
Mistake #3: Only Editing the Small Stuff
This mistake kills me. I understand how it happens. It’s way easier to fix the punctuation and things that are easy to see, but it wastes your time and energy. When you start the editing phase of your novel, you should never start at the word and punctuation level. Ignore the small stuff. I know it’s hard, but don’t fix every word you hate and every sentence that doesn’t flow. At this point if your characters aren’t compelling or your plot lacks cohesiveness, then those words and sentences don’t matter.
Your first phase of editing should always be focused on the big picture. Zero in on the major elements of fiction: plot, point of view, character, theme, pace, conflict and tension, dialogue, and consistency.
If you can’t restrain yourself, fine—fix the missing period. But you have to train your writer brain to work at different levels of editing and story. If you only pay attention to the small stuff, you will never see the plot holes, character development issues, or missed theme opportunities.
So start big. Make a plan. Spend time looking at your characters’ journeys and arcs. Do they feel authentic? Do your characters change in ways that matter to readers? Do the plot events logically force your character to act toward a change?
Consider your protagonist and antagonist as opposing forces. Do they challenge each other to change? If one succeeds, does that mean the other fails? It should; the stakes should be high.
Other areas to look at before ever worrying about punctuation are point of view, theme, timelines, flows of chapters, and how fast or slow parts of your novel read. Who’s telling your story? Is that character the best choice to give the reader the most intimate or engaging experience? Is your point of view consistent where it should be? Are there sizable gaps of time missing, or does the reader always know where they are in time and space?
If you learn to actively ask yourself these types of questions as you experience your story in the early editing phases, the realizations you have will surprise you and you will see various ways to add richness to your story.
How to Start a Successful Editing Phase
First and foremost, don’t make the above mistakes. Take the time to let your manuscript rest, revisit your foundation whys, and make a macro, story-level plan of what you will pressure test in your first round of revisions.
I always recommend starting the way I start a developmental edit. Read the entire manuscript as a reader would. Don’t edit, just make notes. Note how you feel in certain areas or where you feel the pace slows. Make a note if a character acts, but it did not feel believable.
And if you have already revisited your whys and noted the areas you will focus on during the revision, then after that initial editing read, you will have made all the notes you need to guide that story-level edit.
Just get organized and take advantage of these opportunities to deepen your novel. Go revise. I dare you!
I’d love to hear from you:
What works in your writing process to amp you up for a successful round of revisions? How long do you let the manuscript rest before you start attacking it again?
Good luck and happy editing!
For more tips and in-depth guides on revising your stories, check back for more posts.
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