How to Create an Editing Process That Works for You With Author JD Edwin

Your Next Draft

A prolific author shares her editing process and strategies for designing the process that works for you.
There are as many ways to edit novels as there are writers.
Which editing process is best? The one that works for you. The process you customize, refine, and repeat, novel after novel after novel.
And in this episode, we’re talking about how to create your very own editing process.
I’ve invited my client JD Edwin, author of the Headspace trilogy, to share the process she’s developed and her best tips for finding what works for you.
You’ll hear:

• The step-by-step editing process JD Edwin has developed over the course of writing, editing, and publishing three novels
• How to develop an editing system that works for YOU (and let go of what doesn’t work!)
• When JD Edwin shares her book with alpha readers, plus the kind of feedback she wants on early drafts
• How JD Edwin decided it was time to send her novel to a developmental editor, plus the mindset that helped this step feel less scary
• Why JD Edwin has come to enjoy editing—and the mindset that keeps her going when editing gets tough
• And more!

JD is honestly one of the most productive authors I know—so productive that it’s almost a little intimidating.
Take a listen to our conversation and get tips and inspiration to try in your own editing process!
Links mentioned in the episode:
Find full show notes, including timestamps of key topics, here
Read JD Edwin’s books and find her online:

• Purchase Orb Hunters and the full Headspace series
• Find JD Edwin on her website and subscribe to her newsletter: jdedwin.com
• Join JD Edwin’s Facebook group
• Email JD Edwin at [email protected]

Read the Write Great Fiction series and learn how to develop your own editing process:

• Plot & Structure
• Dialogue
• Description & Setting
• Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint
• Revision & Self-Editing

Listen to Your Next Draft:

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1. How to Create an Editing Process That Works for You With Author JD Edwin (00:00:00)

2. JD Edwin figured out how to tell a great story by writing Headspace (00:05:30)

3. Headspace took five drafts to write and edit (00:08:39)

4. Transitioning from writing the first draft to editing the second draft is a significant mental shift (00:11:28)

5. How JD Edwin decided it was time to send her novel to a developmental editor, plus the mindset that helped this step feel less scary (00:13:19)

6. The step-by-step editing process JD Edwin has developed over the course of writing, editing, and publishing three novels (00:15:36)

7. How to develop an editing system that works for YOU (and let go of what doesn’t work!) (00:19:56)

8. How JD Edwin uses plot treatments to make editing the big picture story structure easier (00:24:21)

9. Why self-editing is an essential part of the editing process, even if you plan to send your manuscript to an editor (00:32:06)

10. When JD Edwin self-edits and when she sends her manuscript to me to edit (00:35:11)

11. How to self-edit a novel (i.e., the specific changes JD Edwin makes when she’s self-editing a draft) (00:37:12)

12. Yes, editing gets easier with more books and more practice (00:45:24)

13. What JD Edwin is editing right now (00:53:13)

14. When JD Edwin shares her book with alpha readers, plus the kind of feedback she wants on early drafts (00:59:15)

15. Why JD Edwin enjoys editing and the mindset that keeps her going when editing gets tough (01:02:31)