Every completed manuscript is an incredible accomplishment, but fantasy novels, which are notorious for being lengthy and complex, pose an impressive challenge for any writer. Between inventing original names, designing a magic system, and, literally, creating a world—fantasy manuscripts are uniquely difficult to write, and even more daunting to revise.
Finishing the third draft of my current fantasy manuscript was a trial. I’d completed a first draft of three other fantasy novels before but never attempted to revise any of them. I honestly didn’t think they were worth the effort. So when I tried to edit my 150,000-word beast, I found myself entering entirely unfamiliar territory in my creative process.
I knew how to outline. I knew how to power through blank pages and writer’s block. I even knew how to read my work critically after years of attending writers’ groups. None of those skills prepared me for the reality of trudging through my own words for hours on end, finding typos, inconsistencies, and nonsense sentences while growing increasingly frustrated by my past self’s utter incompetency.
But I’m over the hill. I’m happy with where the manuscript is now and have a few thoughts about the methods that helped me work smarter, not harder. This revision how-to guide is my best attempt at distilling my thoughts, missteps, and strategy into genuine advice.
Read it silently. Read it quickly. Don’t worry about the sentences individually, focus on the big ideas and how they come across. Is everything clear? Is every plot thread addressed? In a fantasy manuscript, it’s especially important to examine magic and your use of it. Are the rules consistent across characters and events? Are there moments when a character could solve something with magic and doesn’t?
As you read, you’re likely going to come up with new thoughts about the details of your world and character. Leave notes to yourself, but don’t start making changes until after you’ve completed your read-through. There’s nothing worse than having a good idea in chapter five that turns into a great idea in chapter fifteen and then correcting everything again.
Do not skip the next writers’ meetup. Having someone who can read your work and offer an honest opinion about it is invaluable. It doesn’t matter what writing group is in your area. It doesn’t matter if they are all retirees who do not read any fantasy. Having anyone else read your work will help immensely. You cannot be your only reader. Not forever. You need outside perspective on how your writing sounds. There will be blind spots in your draft—every first draft has them—so having someone else who can point out those blind spots is invaluable. Even if they do so clumsily.
This is especially useful if it’s a long draft. You may have already segmented the story into parts; many fantasy novels do. Take advantage of that and limit your first attempts at revision to one section of the story at a time. Even if you don’t plan to actually divide the story up when it’s published, an arbitrary separation of chapters can really help build a sense of progress and accomplishment as you work through a fifth, a quarter, or a third of your manuscript.
I created a spreadsheet to keep track of which chapters I’d worked through already. It was also handy for planning future revisions as I could leave notes to myself about specific chapters and scenes to reference later. If you already have an outline, consider repurposing it as a revision tracker (‘floating’ or ‘flexible’ outlines that grow and change as a novel is drafted are also wonderful tools).
Knowing that you’ve already made a sizeable chunk in your revision process will encourage you to go further and finish. Periodic breaks in the revision process will also give you time to reflect on your changes. If one revision doesn’t sit well with you, a short break from revising will give you time to consider why and return to the revision without interrupting your progress on the next scene, chapter, or section.
It seems like the easiest option when you want to change a unique name, title, or spell. It seems like it, but it’s often more trouble than the convenience of technology is worth. Instead, save search and replace for the very end of your revision process. Challenge yourself to find the tiny changes as you read it through. This will force you to read closely, increasing your chances of finding other small mistakes like typos, misspellings, or overused words.
Save this step for when it’s almost finished. Reading out loud is about sound, flow, and rhythm. Don’t breeze through, read each sentence like you’re the audiobook narrator (letting someone else listen helps with this), and really listen to how the words sound. Your goal here is to confront the reality of your writing’s delivery and smooth over the inevitable clunky sentences, awkward pieces of dialogue, and over-long exposition. A long, technical paragraph may be interesting when read in isolation on paper, but can you listen to only the mechanics of spellcasting for thirty seconds? A full minute?
As you read aloud, you may find that you can’t finish the book. When I first sat down to read my second draft to my partner, I was so unhappy with the ending I couldn’t finish it. That’s a clear sign that there’s another draft to come.
But when you finish—and you will finish—that final sentence spoken aloud will be the best part of the whole journey. Trust me.
Claire van Doren holds degrees in English literature and journalism as well as a certificate in LGBTQ+ studies from Arizona State University. She is a volunteer reader for Uncharted magazine, a publisher of genre fiction. Her writing has been published by Inner Worlds, Zocalo Public Square, and ASU News.
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