Congratulations, you have finished your first draft. Now what?

Every author writes their story with a lot of excitement. This initial writing is the fun part. You are excited to see your plot take shape and your characters come to life. However, the next part is not so much fun. Revising your novel is boring, but absolutely necessary.  This is when you go through your novel to see if everything makes sense. Unfortunately, you cannot get someone to do this for you.

We are not talking about proofreading the novel here, but rather revising the story to see if everything fits, and ironing out any flaws. Here are some tips to help you become more effective at revising your novel.

Structure Your Novel

Make a fresh outline, preferably off the top of your head. This outline should include things like the number of chapters in the book, number of pages per chapter, how each chapter starts and ends, the key points in each chapter, the number of scenes in each chapter, where the climax is positioned and the resolution. Here you are deconstructing your story to see how it all fits together. This outline is strictly about the facts and not the emotions in the story.

Go Back-To-Front When Possible

Revision involves many things and while some of these will require you to start from the first page all the way to the back, others might not. In case the particular details you are revising do not need you to start from page 1, then it is better to start from the final page and work your way back. Such details might include things like number of pages per chapter, chapter numbering, and others. By starting at the back, you pay more attention to the details, unlike the other way round where you might just instinctively cruise through the novel without noticing certain details.

Revisit The Characters

This is the part that focuses on your characters and their actions and emotions. Focus on things like how you described each character, what motivates their actions, and if these actions make sense at different stages of the story. Character development is very crucial so make sure there is consistency and that their evolution makes sense. Another thing to check for here is dialogue. The tone and style of speech must be in line with the characters' different personas. Factors like profession, lifestyle, location, era etc often determine the tone. For example, a character in the army will have a completely different tone from that of a cowboy or a tech nerd.

Editing and proofreading

Although at this point the aim is to see if your story generally makes sense, it is never too early to start proofreading your novel. Proofreading is not the main focus at this stage, but you are bound to notice some errors while revising your draft. Use this chance to get rid of these obvious errors. At this point, it is not advisable to use proofreading software as it is better reserved for the final stage of proofreading.