My book is done!!! My book is done! My book is done?
Okay, well maybe not “done” in the way you’re thinking. I have finally finished the developmental edit of my fantasy novel.
What is a developmental edit?
A developmental edit is basically a structural edit. It looks at the plot, character arcs, and overall structure of the story from a big-picture perspective. I would call this a step above a first round.
For me, the developmental edit is the first “professional” round of edits. I’ve told myself the story as closely as I can, and now I need to make sure that it’s getting through to readers. I chose to do this edit after my beta read.
What happens next?
There are a few additional things I’d like to change in the novel:
- One or two more instances of how her magick manifests
- Infuse the last chapter with more emotion
But the whole of the story is done. I’m happy with the pacing, the plot points, and the emotions are all there. I would be comfortable handing this over to an agent at this point.
So, next steps:
- Get those last couple of edits finished up and run it through a grammar/spelling check
- Start working on my query letter and synopsis
- Figure out how the querying phase actually works
I started a list of various agents I’d like to submit to, but I need to get myself rolling on that part of it as well. So this month will be about getting myself informed and ready to rock.
As I get more informed, hopefully, I can share that knowledge with all of you.
I’m excited to get started with this part of the process for the first time! I know it’s a lot of rejection, but honestly…I’m used to it at this point.
Subtle Stories 