How to revise your novel in 6 steps

You’ve finished writing an early draft of your novel and know it needs more work – now how do you revise that novel? This process can seem overwhelming unless you develop some kind of process or a solid plan to make things more organised and streamlined.

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosure here.

There are all sorts of methods to revise your novel, and it largely depends on what kind of writer, and person, you are. There are no rules when it comes to revising and developing a story. There’s a technique I’ve found especially useful, but bear in mind, it might not work for everyone. I’m sharing it here in case it helps you navigate the process of revising more easily. Feel free to cherry-pick aspects that work for you, if you find certain steps useful.

Step 1: Let your draft sit

If you’ve spent a long time writing a book, chances are, you’ve become very close to it and overly familiar with the story and characters. That can make it difficult to look at the novel with fresh eyes. So the first step I recommend is to let it sit for a while. Take a break, put it to one side. Work on something else, and give it time. You can do this for a few weeks or a few months, whatever you feel most comfortable with.

If you’ve sent your book to critique partners, beta readers or an editor, that’s a great opportunity to step back and let the novel sit until they’ve had chance to read it and give you feedback.

Step 2: Read through your current draft

Now, you’ve taken some time away from your book to gain perspective. You’ve thought about what the next version might look like, and how it might be structured.

Read through your current draft and figure out what you think, and how you react to particular scenes and developments. (It can help to change formats, such as switching to reading on a Kindle, on your phone, or on paper.) Take notes on the big-picture areas that need work, such as your plot and your characters. You can also leave comments or highlights for yourself on particular areas.

The idea here is that after a break, you might see things differently and be able to pinpoint more areas that need work.

Step 3: Create fresh outlines

After a break – and possibly getting some feedback from others – outline your next draft using both your own notes and feedback from anyone else. Even if you’re a pantser (meaning you don’t plan out your early drafts), having a plan or outline for revisions and the shape the story will take can be really important, otherwise you might end up getting lost, confused, or stuck along the way.

I always recommend Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody for structuring a novel and planning an outline. The beat sheets are especially useful. I love this book and think it makes outlining a breeze. If there are holes in the plot or issues with logic, list out a bunch of questions and try to answer them (how does Character A get from Point A to Point B, how can I fix this contradicting plot point).

At this stage, you can also flesh out your characters in more depth, especially if you know there are issues or inconsistencies with their goals, personalities, or motivations. If you haven’t done them before, put together some character profiles to help guide you as you revise. I love this handy page based on RPG games – it’s super helpful for writing novels as well, if you pick and choose the areas that are relevant.

For fantasy, I recommend keeping everything you know about the story’s world in a Word document. This will help you spot any holes and areas you need to develop more thoroughly. Working through this list of world-building questions can help you to build a more realised world, and can guide you during revisions.

Step 4: Build your revision plan

Organise all of your feedback into a Word document (or on paper, or whatever else works for you). This will be your plan to revise your novel. Make sure you incorporate all of your own notes, as well as notes given to you by others. I recommend splitting all of your feedback into categories so you can see exactly which areas need work. Here are some examples (you can add to or subtract from this list as you see fit):

Plot
- Overarching plot/story hook and aim
- Conflict
- Stakes
- Drama and tension
- Plot holes
- Scene-level work: Scenes to flesh out, delete or add
- Beats
- Timeline
Structure and pacing
- Scene breaks and chapter breaks
- Hooks
- Areas that are too slow-paced vs too fast-paced, finding balance
- Urgency
World-building
- Imagery and vividness
- Level of detail
- Magic system rules
- Contradictions
Characters
- Protagonist
- Side characters
- Antagonist
- Character arcs
- Relationships/love interests
- Imagery/descriptive language
- Emotional responses and reactions
- Goals and motivations
- Backstories
Dialogue
- Character voices
Exposition and info-dumping
Point of view/perspective

Step 5: Colour-coding

Now, you’ve got lots of notes in each category (feedback from other people, and notes from yourself). You might start to question which points are most important, and which points really need work. Maybe you’re questioning whether you should change something at all.

This is where colour-coding can help. Anything that crops up more than once (for example, in your notes several times, and in notes from beta readers or editors) is likely something that needs work. Receiving feedback doesn’t mean you have to use it, but if multiple people are saying the same thing, it’s probably worth looking at. Place these areas in red. Anything you still have uncertainty about doing, place that in orange.

As you work through the list and implement changes, mark things that are done in green (or you can delete them/cross them out).

Step 6: Work from the biggest down

When revising, the easiest way to do it is to do the biggest, broadest things first. Plot and structural changes are going to be the largest thing you do – so do those first. There’s no point doing character work when you’re likely going to be deleting a scene, expanding one, or moving things around.

My suggestion is to do plot and structure first, then your characters, then fine-tune any world-building. After that, you can move on to figuring out finer points like dialogue, character voice, and making sure your point of view is solid and consistent.

I hope these steps help you to revise your novel!

The great thing about revisions is that you can be versatile. If a part of the revision plan for your novel doesn’t work, change it up and try new things. Sometimes, one revision plan works for a particular book, but not another. Keep trying and experimenting, and be open to new ways of doing things.