Step 1:
Celebrate that ish!
You just did a thing SO. MANY. people dream about. How many times have we heard some version of, “I’d love to write a book someday”? Probably more than we can count.
It takes remarkable committment and effort to work on the same project for months (maybe even years!) and actually finish it. Congratulations! Celebrate in whatever way is fulfilling for you — drinks, a special meal, a night out, or maybe just a little extra ice cream, as a treat.
Now for the disclaimer: This is all merely suggestion. Try these various methods/ideas. Combine them, mix-and-match them. Experiment, until you find some variation that works for you.
(This post also assumes that you’ve written a book length work with the intent to publish. If not, then just congratulate yourself and bask in the afterglow of creation, my friend.)
Step 2:
Put it away.
No, really. Whatever it takes to erase that book from the front of your brain, do it. For me, the book is still very much “live” until I’ve printed out the rough draft and stuck it in a drawer or binder out of sight. Only then can I close the file on my computer and move on to whatever’s next.
For me, there’s something about the move from virtual to physical that signals a shift in the process to my brain. For you, this step could be less a physical birth and more a fun game of hide and seek. Move that file somewhere you won’t see it (but will hopefully find it again easily enough in a month or two).
The goal here is to achieve “distance.” After months — or longer — drafting, your brain is just too dang close to everything you just wrote. If you’re going to revise the book anytime soon you need to manufacture some objectivity. And objectivity, or some semblance of it, is critical to the next step.
Mileage Variation Moment:
How long you let the book rest is entirely up to you. I know I prefer at least two months. I also know that is a luxurious amount of time that probably won’t be an option if/when I’m writing to a deadline.
I gave Victoria less than a month off… maybe even just two weeks. Something Sulfurous had the better part of two years off, but that was due to a lot of external factors and not indicative of my usual process. It is an outlier and should not be considered. And my ideal time is two months.
So apparently I only edit in twos.
Step 3:
Read it.
Read it through once as a reader, and then again to take notes. Make a list of what works and what doesn’t, where there’s inconcsistencies and plot holes. But fix nothing. Only take notes.
This step is always terrifying to me. Reading a book for the first time after at least three weeks, but potentially three months away gives me so much anxiety. The sunbeams of creation have faded and left my mind to wonder, “what if it sucks?”
Good news? I’ve never finished reading a project for the first time and legitimately thought it wasn’t worth revising. It’s never sucked. Now, that isn’t to say they’ve ever been utterly pristine and ready to submit, either.
Because, here’s a secret: to you, the book will ALWAYS need work. There will always be something just you feel could be better. The point is to get it to a stage where you can no longer be the one to make it better.
Step 4:
Let the games begin! And by “games,” I mean revisions.
This process is different for every single project. I can only offer some broad suggestions you might find useful. For me, regardless of the minutia of the book, making a set of goals for a revision pass has been enormously helpful.
Basically, after reading the book twice, I consult my notes and decide on the biggest concerns. For Something Sulfurous it was pacing and timeline consistency. For Victoria it was a couple plot holes, non-linear timeline consistency(?), and a weak ending that needed rewriting. With those issues identified I could prioritize them and then assign them to a revision pass.
In the first round of revision I usually take care of the big picture things. Ironing out the timeline, fixing plot holes, and rewriting any scenes that don’t work. This is why the first round of revision is my least favorite — it’s the heaviest load by far.
But, every subsequent revision gets easier.
Mileage Variation Moment:
For the first time in my writing life, I am currently submitting a rough draft, work in progress to my critique group. This normally would not happen until the book is in about Step 6. I cannot speak to how this method will affect the book, but I’ll be sure to report back once this book is capital D done.
Now, then, as you were.
Step 5:
Repeat Step 4 until you can’t stand the book anymore.
Okay, that’s a bit of a Funny Ha Ha, but it’s also kind of true. You keep reading, taking notes, making revision pass specific goals, until you don’t know HOW TO FIX the book any more. And despite of all of this, odds are you’ll still feel like something just isn’t right, but you can’t place it.
That’s when you know it’s time for the next step.
Step 6:
Get a fresh set — or several sets — of eyes.
When you feel like you’ve hit a wall in your revision and the book is so close to being done, it’s time for a beta reader or a critique group. You need objective eyes, whose taste and experience you trust.
I’ve found that critique groups are great when you have specfic scenes or sections or elements of craft you want feedback on. Beta readers are great for when you want feedback on the book as a whole.
Please note that beta readers do not equal sensitivity readers. If you’re considering a sensitivity reader, you should definitely hire one, and you probably want to do so before this step. Maybe even before or during step 5, because you don’t want to make a bunch of edits to a work that may change drastically depending on the sensitivity reader’s feedback.
You can learn more about critique groups and other writing communities in this post.
Step 7:
Repeat Step 4, but with your chosen readers’ feedback in mind.
I want to be absolutely clear here — you do not have to use all feedback given to you. And, no matter how much you like, trust, and appreciate a reader, their feedback can be wrong for your book. That’s okay. Not every book is for every reader. This is the part where you need to rely on your instincts about the book and only incorporate the feedback that will hone it into the one the book needs to be.
Personally, this is why I like to seek outside feedback after I’ve revised as much as I’m able. I’m close to the book again, after umpteen rounds of revision, but it isn’t the tremulous, emotional closeness of the drafting process. I’ve broken the book and put it back together again. I know it can handle another round in the ring and still come out mine. And that I’m less likely to implement less-than-stellar feedback because I have a much stronger sense of the book by this point.
It’s hard to describe, can you tell?
Step 8:
Read it again.
I know you’ve probably read it at least eight times at this point. You know the damn thing through, every line. You feel like you might even be able to recite it, if pressed.
Good. 
Can you think of ANYTHING else that could possibly make it better? Anything you haven’t already tweaked and tried? Do you almost, kinda sorta, maybe hate the book?
That’s it. You’re done.
Yep, I’m serious. That book is as done as you and your resources can get it. The book is Capital D DONE!
(For now…)
The Final Step
There are two options from here:
- Start submitting to publishing professionals
- There are steps to take here: drafting query letters, synopses, cover letters, etc., You also need to research publishing professionals depending on which path to publishing you want to take. For more on all of this, try this blog post 2022.
- Start the next project
The good news is, you don’t have to choose between them! The bad news? You’re going to do both of these things, basically for the remainder of your writing life. You will always be submitting and you will always be writing. And you will always be somewhere on this ~8 Step journey.
Lather.
Rinse.
Repeat.
Forever and ever, amen.
BZ
