To avoid wasting time when editing, consider the order in which you review your work. First, before you edit, write your story in its entirety. Don’t try to get the first chapters perfect. Many novice writers struggle for perfecting their early chapters. They will spend months some even years perfecting the early portion of a story rather than writing later chapters. They deprive themselves what can be learnt may by moving forward. Push forward or else you’ll be writing in circles.

Macro Editing Stages

• Stage One: Read your manuscript from beginning to end. Cut everything that’s not interesting. If you’re not interested your reader won’t be either. Also, cut everything that doesn’t move the plot forward or build characterization. Repeat this stage until you are sure everything that needs cutting is gone.
• Stage Two: Reread your work and list all major problems the manuscript has from a scale of one, for minor problems, to ten, for the largest issues. Number ten problems will be the most time-consuming issues to fix. These include problems that are integral to the plot, such as a villain not having enough lines to develop their character or motive. Another number ten issue might be plot holes you failed to spot early on. Examples number one issues might include minor continuity issues such as a character that puts on a hat at the end of one chapter but in the next hat it’s gone.
• Stage three: Work on all your biggest problems from ten on down.
• Stage Four: Repeat stage two and three, until you have a lean manuscript with no unneeded chapters, or continuity issues.

Chapter Editing Stage

• Stage 1: Now edit one chapter at a time. Cut what isn’t needed. As before, cut anything that you think doesn’t add to the story.
• Stage 2: Reread the chapter to see what it needs and write what you wish to add. This could be details that clarify for the reader a certain plot point, details that make the characters more vivid. Keep rereading until you know that the chapter looks good. That is everything that slows the story down is cut, sentences are clear. This may include editing the order of sentences in the paragraphs among other things. Make sure chapters starts and finishes strong.
• Stage 3: Now, and only now, edit for grammar. Doing so before can prove a waste of time because sentences will often be reworded or cut out.
• Stage 4: Once you are done with a chapter move on to the next starting at Chapter Editing Stage One.

Sadly effort alone does not make a great writer. Instead, a certain degree of intelligence in managing large project separates those who struggle and those who thrive. Managing your editing process smooths out this large project into smaller steps, saving time and energy.