Weekend Writing: Editing vs. Revising, What's the Difference?

When a writer says he/she has just finished writing the first draft of a poem, story or novel, people often think, "Oh, the hard part is over!" That's where you're wrong. While it's true that writing the first draft is difficult, there is a lot of work that follows the process. You need to begin editing and revising the draft into a finished piece. 

You may be asking, "What's the difference between editing and revising? Isn't it the same thing?" Well, not exactly. Editing and revising are two separate tasks you will complete during the writing process, but it's okay if you get confused on the definitions. It happens to all of us. I'm going to break it down for you in this post, so sit back and enjoy. 

Revising

(photo/PublishToday)

What does it mean to revise your novel? In this case, you're not reviewing each sentence for grammar and punctuation errors. Instead, you're looking at the "big picture." You alter the content of the story, and this is often based on the feedback you may have received from a workshop or your peers. 

Here's what you look for when you're revising your work: 

• Plot Holes: Plot holes are important missing elements in your writing. A plot hole often occurs in the form of continuity errors, or if you need more plot development from point A to point B. Readers notice these plot holes more than the writer because you know what you're writing. You know what's supposed to be there. When you're revising your writing, you'll want to pay close attention to any areas that could use more development to answer questions your readers might ask. 

• Pacing: Pacing is the speed at which your story flows. Having a consistent pace is most effective for your work. As you're revising, pay attention to the pacing and adjust where it is needed.

• Purpose: Your writing needs to have a purpose. If it doesn't, what's the point? Extraneous scenes drag the story. Dialogue that doesn't advance the story isn't necessary. In fact, anything that doesn't advance the story should be omitted when you're revising your first draft. It's true that your draft is where you get everything down on paper. That's what you should do when you're writing that first draft. Your revisions should refocus the story to the main purpose. A good story should expand a reader's understanding, reveal something about your characters, and move the plot forward. If you find something isn't doing those things, take it out. 

• The Hook: I have explained before how difficult it can be to write the first line in your story. Your story needs to begin with a strong hook to attract your readers to continue reading. There's a good probability that you didn't nail that hook or first line when you wrote the first draft, and that's okay. Revise it now. 

• Characters: You need to look at your characters. Your characters' actions and reactions will determine the plot. Pay attention to your characters' journeys. Don't make your characters perfect--because no one is perfect. We fail in life, so your characters need to fail. Any issues with your characters need to be resolved as you revise your story. It's a requirement. 

• Research: I have also explained before how crucial research is to your story's success. You should have completed your research before writing your first draft, but when you're revising and looking at the elements of your story, you often find that you need more knowledge of a material. That's when research helps. Make sure you have your facts right. If you begin questioning things when you're revising and rereading your work, chances are your readers will have similar questions. 

There are other elements you need to consider while revising your work: Exposition and backstory, foreshadowing, consistency, and more. When you're revising, you need to look for consistency in your story's point-of-view (POV), tone, voice, themes, descriptions, and motifs. 

Revising is reviewing your story as a whole--making sure everything works together as a cohesive piece. It's a long process, but it's rewarding when you have an even better story in the end. 

Editing 

(photo/Keyboard Musings)

Now, what about editing? What does it mean when you edit a story? Technically speaking, editing is looking at each sentence of your story and reviewing the wording. You're reading your story with a fine-tooth comb--checking for any spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors, as well as thinking if you used the right word in a particular sentence. 

Editing isn't exactly a fun job, but it's important for your story's success. Here's what you should look for: 

• Redundancy: I admit that I notice this problem in my writing when I'm editing my work. I often repeat myself and put two of the same words close together in the same sentence. It's a problem for many writers, so you will want to watch for redundancy errors as you edit your story. 

• Filler Words: My father is the king of chopping a 700-word story down to a 300-word story. He's a journalist and editor--and a darn good one, at that. He always looks at how you can edit a story and remove unnecessary words. These filler words clutter up the story from the main focus. If a sentence doesn't explain something that is vital to your reader's understanding, reveal something, or move the plot forward, edit the sentence and remove the filler words. It will help the sentence read better, I promise. 

• Grammar & Punctuation: This is your basic copyediting step where you look for noun-verb agreements, proper tenses, unnecessary modifiers, correct punctuation marks, etc. You will often need to read your story multiple times to check for grammar and/or punctuation errors.

• Spelling: Similar to the rule on grammar and punctuation, you will need to make sure every word in your story is spelled correctly, unless you are misspelling words for a specific reason. 

• Formatting: You will also want to check for formatting issues, including looking for proper capitalization, indentations, line spacing, dialogue, font, etc. A correct format will help make you look more professional as a writer.

• Clarity: Finally, you will need to make sure all of the word choices make sense. Read each sentence as though you are the reader. If you have written a sentence that doesn't read right, change it. Your readers (and eventually publishers) will thank you. 

Editing takes a lot of time and effort, but you will want to make sure everything in your piece reads correctly. There have been many times where I am reading a book and I see a grammatical error. I think to myself, "How did they miss that when they were editing the book?" Editing is so important, so take the time to do it. 

(photo/pinterest.com)

Hopefully, you have a clear idea of the difference between revising and editing. You'll revise your story first and edit later. Just remember this: revising is looking at the "big picture" while editing is going through the story with a fine-tooth comb. 

Revising is focusing on the story's plot and characters, while editing is reviewing sentence structure and your word choices. These are separate writing processes, but in the end, you'll have a polished piece ready to send out to publishers. 

I pose for a picture with my mom (photo/Kasy Long).

Good luck on the journey! 

Write on. 

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I want to conclude this blog post by sharing a quick happy birthday message to my mother--my favorite editor. She isn't a writer or editor. In fact, she doesn't even enjoy reading, but she always reads my writing. She's the first person to see my drafts and she always looks for mistakes. She catches the things I miss. So, thank you, Mom! Happy birthday and I love you! 

-KJL-