How I Edit My Fantasy Books (2023)

Great! Many thanks!

Super informative video Jed. I was recently made redundant from my job and as I’ve been an avid reader for many years I’m considering writing my first novel. This insight really brought home what is involved. Subscribed 👍🏻🇬🇧. As someone attempting to write a novel for the first time do you have any advice on composing the first draft?

I operate a little different, I'm a gardener. So I'll write and use drafts as the outline. Adding scenes once I get my primary scenes down. Work on dialogue in a later drafts. Once I have the story flowing the way I want I start editing. Removing excess so that the flowers can bloom and fruit wonderfully. I write about conceptual themes, so much of my stories are very character driven. Plots are the causes of the characters wants or needs and the actions taken to fulfill those. I've never had issues with being objective of my own work but I came from a philosophy, sociology, and debate background so being objective about your own beliefs and thoughts is a needed skill for understanding your intellectual opponents and adjusting the ideas you have. I like to remember that I'm not reading my story, I'm reading the character's story. I'm writing down their lives but I'm not creating them. It's a bit like children, you imprint what you believe onto them but ultimately it's their lives. I can be critical of decisions I don't agree with they take, it does not mean their story ends just because of that.

I revise as I write, so the majority of this stuff was done already.

from what i got, Patrick Rothfuss's theme is just "foreshadowing is awesome"

Can you do a video on how to add small romance to fantasy novels? If not that's cool I'm sure you get 100s of requests!

You have no idea how much I needed this.

There is a precedent of order in editing tasks.
As in all things writing, there is nothing set in concrete and will depend on the author, story and genera. I've tried to compile (several times) exactly this order should include.
It would be interesting to compare notes with other who struggle with this.

notice you have the first 4 books of republic commando, why not the 5th? imperial commando

Great tips!

I do not own a kindle but what I have done is taken the whole manuscript, changed the font and sizing then put it in e-pub or PDF format and read it on my phone. It is revolutionary. Reading it like it is someone else's story really helps. Thanks Jed for these amazing videos

Hey there thanks for posting this! I always really like author workflow videos. Interested to see how authors are working and those specifics. I had a question about your process for editing notes. You said you upload your manuscript to your paperwhite and read there. Then you mention later that you had 60k words of notes for the next stage. How are you taking those notes? You're not doing that on paperwhite, right? That seems like it would be very cumbersome. Thanks! Enjoying your content a lot.

Good ideas about editing. I suppose I have never ran into such a systematic take on the passes of the later editing but on the other hand editing is not as much talked about as writing the first draft. I suppose I will use those when I'm finishing my manuscript. I recently got a feedback from a professional author and make a few tweaks on the strucktural level.

oh "a hundred and sixty three thousand - word manuscript' haha I thought you said, 863,000 words manuscript XD I was like 0_0 hahaha!!

this is phenomenal

The reading and editing along with text to speech tip is one I use often, it really does help quite a lot =D

Great insight as always Jed. I love the idea of putting your draft on your kindle. It really made me think I was reading someone else's book and made it easier to find issues.

Hello Jed, great video! Thank you for your efforts and putting it out.
I am binging your videos, as I am an aspiring author, and I have to say that the format of your videos and the way you present the topics are fantastic.
I do struggle a bit with my writing mainly as I am trying to write in English--which is not my mother language--but, little-by-little, step-by-step I might get there.

Probably the best editing guide I’ve ever seen. I wish I’d had something like this when I’d started writing. I really appreciate you providing concrete strategies to follow for each step in your process.

The amulet scenes sound really cool!

How old you is, my boy

Super Pumped!! Another 20+ minute video. Really enjoying the longer ones. Thanks!!

Couldn't agree more with the opening. I tell my own clients that writing is all about re-writing and that the real writing comes during the revisions! Great video. I found myself nodding along with many of the points you made.

thanks for this!!

This is such a great video thanks Jed. Very useful and interesting. I can't wait to get to the editing stages of my work in progress 😊.

Wonderful guide and insight into your process. Every writer is a little bit different, but you do a great job of giving a comprehensive look at the editing process. Thank you, Jed!

Glad to see another vertical mouse king. Thank you for the guide, Jed!

Thank you Jed. Another step forward on my learning journey.

I love that I’m not the only one who feels like you’re reading someone else’s book when reading in the kindle! It’s such a great mindset shift to take advantage of.

I’ve always felt like rewriting looks so differently for everyone and really enjoyed hearing your take on it!