Tips for the Fiction Author - Prepare for Editing
There are a lot of factors that contribute to the success of your fiction writing. A good editor can help streamline the process, but your editor can’t do it all. Before you send your novel or short story to an editor, prepare the following items for your editor:
Character List
Make an alphabetical list of every character in your story. Include descriptions of the characters, relationships between the characters, and any background information that is relevant to your story. Your editor doesn’t need a full character sketch, but a basic description can help your editor catch inconsistencies throughout the manuscript. For example, if your fictional murderer has red hair, there had better be a good reason for the detective to find black hair at the crime scene.
What this might look like:
Alex: male, blonde, freckles, brother of Barb.
Barb: female, blonde, short, sister of Alex.
Chester: male, bald, bushy eyebrows, walks with a limp, angry neighbor of Alex and Barb.
Location List
If your manuscript involves more than a couple locations, it can be very helpful to give your editor a list of locations. This should include any setting description for the location, as well as distances and terrain between locations if that is relevant to the story. This could also include characteristics of the people who are found in the location, such as special accents, rituals, clothing, etc. For example, if your hero has to ride his bicycle to school, make sure the distance between the two places is feasible for a daily commute on a bike (don’t put his school at the top of a mountain 30 miles away).
What this might look like:
Alex & Barb’s house: yellow, two-story, at the north end of the street.
Chester’s house: brown, single story, south of Alex & Barb’s house.
Park: Across the street to the east of A, B, and C’s houses. Playground, soccer field.
Timeline
No matter the length of your manuscript, a timeline of events will help your editor check for consistency and flow. For a novel, break your timeline down by chapter. Indicate how much time has passed and the major event of each chapter. You can also track point-of-view shifts and the location of the action. For a short story, list major events in chronological order.
What this might look like:
Alex and Barb move into the neighborhood.
Barb joins the soccer team that plays in the park across the street.
Barb loses her soccer ball over Chester’s fence.
Research summary
This won’t apply to all manuscripts, but for those that have required research to write, be sure to offer your editor a summary of the research and a list of sources. For example, if you’ve researched that the bicycle was invented in 1817, make sure your hero could really have access to a bicycle in 1818 when the story takes place, then give your editor the evidence so that they don’t have to fact check it. Or if you’ve researched the topography of Mars for your science fiction novel, send your editor a list of facts and sources that are relevant to your story. Some facts are simple for an editor to check with a quick internet search. Others are not. Give your editor a head start and save them some time.
When in Doubt, Ask!
If you have any doubts about what items are useful for your editor to have, ask! A good editor is there to help your writing be the best it can be, and they should be communicative about what you can do to help the process along.
