🥑 organize! (ripple effects 2)

QUICK NOTE: In the next email, I’m sending you a revision tracker spreadsheet template. Don’t miss it—and better yet, share this with your writer friends!

Big changes make me big nervous.

But over the course of drafting my YA fantasy series, I’ve developed methods for taking on editorial/beta feedback and consistency changes without my brain exploding.

(Parsing out which feedback is helpful and which isn’t—that’s a topic for another time.)

Today, let’s tackle how to organize feedback from editors and beta readers.

Editorial Letters

Developmental editors often organize their feedback by topic, character, etc. in their assessments. For each paragraph or bullet point, rewrite the feedback in your own words. Add your thoughts on how to answer that revision, be they general or specific or just a bunch of question marks.

This is key: don’t rush into revisions. Process now so you can kick butt later.

Beta Feedback

If you gave your beta readers a list of questions to answer, collect those answers in one document. Then do the same thing I said above, with one caveat: focus on responses and themes that resonate across readers. If certain characters or events rubbed multiple readers the wrong way, they deserve special attention.

(I also keep notes on the stuff my readers loved! That’s always a nice serotonin boost.)

Inline Comments

Editors and beta readers will also leave comments throughout the manuscript. Instead of jumping in to fix things, I make a bullet-point list of each comment in a separate document or Scrivener page, including a brief quote from the manuscript so I can find that part of the story quickly. Real examples from the edit of Stories That Bleed, my upcoming book:

• “travelers’ refuges” clarify that these are unofficial, used by nomads and separate from the Empire and the province of Salaman as a political entity

• “strained too far” remove “meant to see” and replace with idea of discovering something secret/profane/etc.

• “items of importance” check status of [REDACTED] storyline

I wrote 6,000 words about my editorial feedback and another 6,000 words about beta feedback. Every single one has been worth it as I revise.

Next up: what to do with these notes, plus a revision tracking template!

Share this with your writing friends before the next email drops on Monday.

Hungry for digestible writing advice? Reply to this email with your burning question, and I may use it in a future Bite.

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