How to Revise Without Butchering Your Book

Many new writers labor under the common misconception that editing has to hurt.

You finish your first draft, take a deep breath, and brace yourself for the cutting. You’ve heard the slogans: “Kill your darlings,” “tighten your prose,” “less is more.” And armed with that half-remembered advice, you dig in.

And then you start hacking like Jack Torrance with…