Quick Link: 6 Tips for How to Organize Your Novel’s Edits

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When you write software, you use different version to help track changes, deal with problems, and find code that the user now wants back. Writing a story is similar. You will have different sets of feedback from different beta readers, editors, and your great Aunt Ruth. How to stay sane? K.M. Weiland at Helping Writers Become Authors shares her hints on how to keep your edits organized. Do you have any favorite tips?

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6 Tips for How to Organize Your Novel’s Edits

May 29, 2016

by K.M. Weiland

Imagine this: you’ve received a ton of great feedback from your beta readers, critique partners, and/or editors. I mean a ton. You’re ready to dive in and start putting their suggestions to use. But… where do you start? How can you organize your novel’s edits so you can actually make sense of them?

One of the reasons editing a novel can sometimes feel like the insurmountable Mt. Never Gonna Get There is because you don’t have a clear path forward. Facing a big edit–with lots of feedback from various sources–is like facing down the mopping up after a hurricane. You’ve got the manpower and the know-how. But first you have to figure out how to put them to use. After all, you can’t move forward until you know the first step.

Reader Megan LaCroix emailed me recently with this fabulously pertinent question:

I’ve been collecting feedback I’ve received from agents, and I’ve also sent my manuscript out to a few betas to get even more feedback. My question is this: What is the best method for organizing multiple sets of feedback?

If your eyes are crossing at just the mention of multiple streams of feedback coming in at once, you’re not alone. Fortunately, organizing anything is my favorite subject! Today, I’m going to show you how to organize your novel’s edits in six simple steps.

But, first…