In editing your novel, your goal should be to reach chapter four or five with a good sense of your characters and where your story is going. Once you reach chapters four and five in your novel, stop tweaking those chapters.
Why? Because your novel is now in take-off mode. Your storyline should be evident. You will have a good idea of where you are going and how it ends. After chapter four or five, only tweak the early chapters after your story ends. Leave yourself notes/comments about changes, but don’t make the changes. Notes will save you time and help remember those thoughts.
Every time you go back to change your story, you will get lost in the rewrite/editing phase, wasting time and getting frustrated with your lack of progress. Here, it’s good to procrastinate. Your final chapter will determine the best beginning for your novel.
Let me repeat that last sentence. Your final chapter will determine the best beginning for your novel. And you edited and rewrote the beginning how many times? Only to go back and rewrite it again. That’s the beginners’ circle. You’re afraid to continue writing because the beginning isn’t right.
Let’s imagine you’re trailblazing a path to a magnificent overlook on top of a mountain. It’s a crude trail. Not a path others can easily follow. Once you reach the top, you realize one of two things. Either it is a magnificent view, or it’s disappointing. If it’s a disappointing view, you leave the mountain and you don’t improve the trail. If it’s a magnificent view, then you go back and begin improving the trail for others to enjoy the view. Don’t worry, your story (the view) will have a magnificent ending.
Once your story is finished, then edit and rewrite to add continuity to your entire story and lead your reader to a great ending.
Constant editing and rewriting is a circle with no end. You must find that storyline and take off with the rest of the story to avoid the beginners’ circle.
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