In this blog post, we will be looking at revising the first draft of your nonfiction book. This is a vital step to ensure your book ends up being the best it can. You will need to do multiple drafts of your book, not just a first and second one, so once you finish your second draft it is time to start thinking about a third one! This blog post looks at some of the first steps that you take in the reviewing process, with another to follow detailing the later steps.
Set Aside
The very first thing that you should do to review your book is nothing! This helps to create distance between you and your manuscript, leaving you more able to make any necessary cuts and edits. It also means that you are more likely to notice any spelling or grammatical errors, as you may otherwise be familiar enough with your book that you know what you meant and read that, rather than what you actually wrote.
In addition, coming back to your book after a while means that you will be better placed to review the structure of your book and how useful the chapter and section divisions would be to a new reader. You can also consider how well these flow more easily once you have some distance from your work, as you will probably know your work inside out when you have just written it and be able to follow your train of thought easily.
Try to leave your work for as long as possible before you review it – ideally, this would be at least a month, preferably several. However, this will depend on what deadlines you have and how many more drafts you plan to do.
While you are setting aside your manuscript, try reading other books and make notes on what you do and don’t like about them. Maybe the charts were particularly useful, but the structure was confusing. You can then keep this in mind for reviewing your own book.
Read Through
The next step is to read through your draft. For the first read, you don’t need to make too many notes; instead, focus on the overall impression of your book. What works really well and what could be improved? Does the structure make sense?
Imagine you are reading your book for the first time. Do you find yourself getting lost in details, or is there not enough information? Does it seem like there’s anything missing? This is especially vital if your book is a guide explaining how to do something, as missing steps can ruin the whole process. Even if something is obvious to you, it might not be to a new reader, especially if they are a beginner. Most importantly, does your book make you want to keep reading?
Once you been through your book once, just reading to get a feel for it, read it again. This time, make notes as you go through. These can be on any of the things above, as well as anything else you notice. For example, make a note of any changes to the structure that are needed and any areas where steps or details are missing. Take notes on the overall impression of your book, considering where you could improve. Don’t forget to also notice what works well!
Focus on Each Chapter
Once you have made some general notes about your book, start focusing on individual chapters or sections. You should be able to summarise each one in a few sentences, possibly more for the opening and closing ones. If you can’t, consider whether you could break that chapter up for clarity.
With nonfiction writing you should also have a set goal for each chapter, stating what its purpose is and what your reader should know by the end of it. Ensure that you have met this goal when you are reviewing, making a note of anything you need to add. If there is something your reader needs to understand for a later chapter, check that you have already included this in one of the chapters before.
Relevance
Next, go through your book again, considering the relevance of each of the points you have made. Is there anything that seems unnecessary? Decide what information is actually needed to understand the next chapters and try to keep all of your writing relevant to this. This avoids your reader getting too overwhelmed by information or losing interest.
In addition, make sure your writing is clear and easy for your reader to understand. If there is anything that might be confusing, rewrite this in a simpler way. Consider your target audience. If your book is aimed at beginners, avoid using any obscure terminology to ensure your book is accessible.
Wrapping Up
I hope that this helps you get started with reviewing your nonfiction book. In my next blog post, we will look at how to continue your review and start a second draft, so come back in two weeks for that!
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