I’m currently working on a middle-grade fantasy. I finished my first draft in May of this year. It was my first draft of a manuscript. And after a long three years of writing, rewriting, and finally discovering my plot, I was ecstatic to move on to the editing phase.

I’m an absolute geek for editing! As a content editor, I was up against my favorite challenge, and this time, I was facing it with my own beloved characters. But…as I faced down that first draft, I learned some important things from the process.

Editing your own work is hard. Even with all my skills and techniques, one big thing continued to hold me back: indecision. I struggled to make solid choices about my main character, names for side characters, world building, setting, etc… 

Maybe you can relate. You LOVE your characters, and you’ve worked so hard to put together that first draft. Now you need to tear it all apart and do the work necessary to make it echo with purpose and heart. Where do you start? How do you deal with changing things you know need editing, yet you love so much?

I dealt with all these things while editing my first draft. I want to share my top 6 things to focus on when editing your first draft.

1. Take. A. Break.

Alright, I’m going to be real with you for a second. I hate taking breaks in my writing. Obviously, I fall off the bandwagon sometimes when life with two little kids, a working husband, my own job, and a puppy take over. But, when I finished my first draft, I was SO ready to edit it. 

But…almost every writing craft book and author I spoke to HIGHLY recommended taking a break after you finish writing your first draft. 

Why? Because it gives you the necessary distance to dig into your first draft and tear it apart. The amount of time you take away from your manuscript is up to you, but I would recommend at least two weeks. If you can hold out for a whole month, that would be even better!

2. Outline Your Current Plot and Revised Plot

When you have finished your break, the first thing I recommend doing is reading through your manuscript. Don’t make any notes on this read-through. Once you have read through it, copy your story into a new document and make an outline of your current story. If you already have an outlining method you love, use that! If you don’t have an outlining method you love, I recommend the Save the Cat method for novelists by Jessica Brody. You can find it on her website or in the Save the Cat Writes a Novel, by Jessica Brody. 

Once you have your current outline down, make an outline that includes any revisions you want to make. Be sure to spend a lot of time here making those plot decisions. Plot elements always change in rewrites, but it’s important to start into revisions with a strong idea of where you are going and what needs to be cut.

3. Start with your Main Character(s)

Just like your novel’s plot, when you start editing your first draft, you want to outline your character’s arc throughout the story. Go through their development, their traits, attitude, behaviors, etc. Make sure these are working in tandem and not against each other. 

Your character should grow, but they should also be consistent. Focus on your character’s wants, needs, and goals. What do they need internally to change by the end of the story? What do they want more than anything else? What are they trying to achieve by the beginning versus the end of your novel? If you can flesh those out before doing any rewrites, you’ll save yourself a lot of editing down the road.

4. Work through World Building

This point is fairly straightforward, but no matter what genre of children’s books you are writing, whether that’s contemporary fiction or fantasy, you will need to flesh out the elements of your world. Heading into editing your first draft, you can flag areas where you need to strengthen your worldbuilding. 

Are there settings you can strengthen? What kind of details should you include in your world’s description? There are so many great resources out there on worldbuilding. One of my favorites is A Writer’s Guide to Active Setting, by Mary Buckham. Dig into these resources and nail down any weak worldbuilding in your manuscript!

5. Make Your Choices Now

When working with clients about finishing the first draft, I constantly emphasize banishing your inner editor. My writer’s group and I are big fans of using brackets to summarize what needs to happen when we get stuck while drafting. I would use them on everything, from names to entire scenes. When I finished the first draft, I added in that information, but not all of it. My first draft was littered with indecision. 

As you begin evaluating and tackling editing your first draft, you need to commit to making decisions about any content you haven’t fully fleshed out. Like worldbuilding, leave no proverbial stone unturned. Come up with names for characters and places, flesh out settings, nail down character personalities, and don’t be afraid to take your time here. It will make a huge difference to your manuscript. When agents and readers pick up a manuscript or book, they want to be hooked into all of the unique elements of your story. Take the time now to plan those and make choices about what details you want to include to make your world rich and enthralling.

6. Embrace Rewriting 

Of all of the things I learned while revising, embracing rewriting was one I didn’t think I’d advocate so strongly for. I used to think that all I needed to do for revision was work on adding in elements of world-building, straighten out some character development, and rewrite a few chapters. What I ended up realizing was how much easier it was to rewrite everything with the new plot in place. 

Now, this might not be the case for you. I discovered that the entire first half of my book wasn’t working. I didn’t love it. So…I cut it all out and rewrote 17 chapters. That might sound daunting, but it actually only took me two months, and by the end, I was so much happier with the plot!

Don’t be afraid to rewrite parts or large swaths of your manuscript. It may seem daunting, but the reward is immeasurable and noticeable in your manuscript.

There are so many other revision points I could discuss here, but these are the ones I struggled with and learned the most from. Hopefully, they will guide you on your exciting and sometimes arduous revision journey. Since this is my last article for the year and for this column, I hope you will continue to improve your kid lit craft and have a wonderful writing journey. Feel free to reach out and follow me on social media!

Happy writing!

Olivia Fisher is a children’s lit writer and freelance editor with an English degree from BYU-Idaho. When she isn’t dreaming about living in a treehouse or chasing down her two young boys, she enjoys curling up with a book, watching Star Wars, writing her next adventure, and trying to live in the state of child-like wonder that we all secretly, or not so secretly, miss. Follow her adventures on Twitter or Instagram, or hire her for your next editing escapade on Fiverr.

The post Kid Lit Craft: 6 Things to Focus on When Editing your First Draft appeared first on DIY MFA.

A well-crafted premise is a pretty powerful writing tool!

Of course, before we can talk about actually using that tool, I should probably answer a quick question:

What is a premise?

Your novel’s premise is a one to two-sentence synopsis of your story, covering the foundational elements that make your novel yours. A strong premise will do a few important things:

• It should imply a conflict,
• It should show a unique perspective,
• It should tease how your story will start,
• And it should hint at your main character’s reaction to the conflict.

To help you see what I mean, here are a few premises you might recognize:

• Mulan: A young woman disguises herself as a man in order to join the Chinese army and protect her father from the draft, entering a deadly war in the process.
• Star Wars: A young Jedi goes on a quest to destroy an evil empire, only to discover that his father is one of its leaders, betraying everything he believes.

As you can see, both of these examples follow a common structure. Some character is faced with a difficult conflict, sets out to achieve something related to that conflict, and gets into trouble. Though we don’t get any spoilers about how these stories end, there is a clear implication—this character has a lot of challenges ahead of them.

With those examples in mind, take a moment to write down your novel’s premise, remembering to keep it short. Again, this is all about distilling the most important elements of your story. You don’t even need your protagonist’s name!

Once you have a premise in hand, let me show you everything you can do with it…

1. Planning Your Story

Typically, the first time you’ll need to consider your story’s premise is while outlining your novel.

This is the chance to distill your many ideas into a cohesive plot, complete with a cast of characters, an engaging story world, and a series of interesting scenes. However, outlining can be a massive undertaking. Some authors (myself included) write outlines that are thousands of words long. Even if every word in that outline is useful, it’s still a lot of information to sort through.

Having a clear premise solves this problem.

As you saw a moment ago, your novel’s premise is short—like, really short. It strikes directly at the heart of your novel, meaning taking the time to write it down is a great way to figure out what parts of your story truly matter.

If you’re struggling to figure out what your novel is “about,” then you’ll definitely want a premise to guide you.

2. Writing Your First Draft

Next up, it’s time to write!

Writing your first draft is a process full of uncertainty, exploration, and excitement. Early on, your story will have tons of possibilities to get lost in—but eventually, you’ll need to find your direction.

This is where your premise arrives to save the day.

Whether you’re a pantser or a plotter, you will get stuck while writing your first draft. When this happens, one of the best things you can do is reference your novel’s premise. How does the scene you’re writing relate back to that core idea? Does it move your story forward? Does it matter to the bigger picture?

Though simple on the surface, it might surprise you how quickly these questions (and your premise) can help you cut through the fog!

3. Editing Your Manuscript

Much like writing, editing is equal parts fun and stressful. You’ve finished your first draft, meaning now you need to dig deep and transform it into a polished novel.

Along the way, you’ll likely make a lot of changes.

For the most part, these changes will be good, but it is possible you make so many changes that you forget what you’re working towards. After months of editing, your story might look completely different from what you started with—and also completely confusing.

If you’re struggling with this, your premise is a great way to reset your writing compass. Pull out your novel’s premise and remind yourself what this story is about. Think back to your original inspiration, vision, and plans, and then consider how to honor those in your current draft. While revisions are an important part of the writing process, it’s also important to stay oriented and focused while editing. Otherwise, it’s far too easy to end up overwhelmed.

4. Publishing Your Novel

Publishing (especially self-publishing) involves a lot of explanation. You’ll need to explain your novel to prospective agents and publishers, pitch it to readers through your marketing, and likely fill in supportive friends and family too.

Luckily, you don’t need to make up these explanations as you go.

Your novel’s premise is essentially an elevator pitch for your story—so don’t be afraid to treat it as such! When someone asks you what your novel is about, share your premise. When it comes time to write your novel’s back cover blurb, use your premise as a starting point. And finally, highlight your premise to readers in the form of emails and ad copy.

By using your premise to ensure every part of your publishing process is consistent, you’ll have a much easier time getting your novel out into the world.

5. Finding Your Fans

Speaking of readers, this is the last major use for your novel’s premise.

Finding your ideal reader is often a tricky process, one that involves a lot of research and careful consideration. The question is, what do you do once you’ve found them? How do you prove your novel is what they’re looking for?

Well, that’s where your premise comes in!

Because your premise highlights the most important aspects of your story, it also provides a good window into what your novel is about. A young woman might set out to find herself, while an elderly grandfather comes to terms with his life. These two stories are very different and thus appeal to different readers. By sharing your premise through social media, blurbs, email, and ads, you can quickly signal to readers whether your novel is right for them.

At the end of the day, your novel’s premise is a small part of your writing toolkit—but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important. By taking the time to write a solid premise and then use it to the fullest, you can set yourself up for success in nearly every stage of the writing process.

Whatever your story’s premise is, I hope it’s a worthwhile companion on your writing journey!

Tell us in the comments: What is your novel’s premise? How has it helped you plan, write, or publish your novel?

Lewis Jorstad is an author and developmental editor who helps up-and-coming writers hone their writing craft over at The Novel Smithy. When he isn’t working on the next book in his Writer’s Craft series, you can find him playing old Gameboy games and sailing somewhere around the eastern half of the US. You can also check out his free ebook, The Character Creation Workbook, and grab a copy for yourself!

You can find him on his website or follow him on Twitter and instagram.

The post #5onFri: Five Reasons Your Novel’s Premise is a Powerful Writing Tool appeared first on DIY MFA.