REVISING, EDITING & POLISHING A GENRE NOVEL This is an excerpt from my booklet how I go about “Writing a Genre Novel” the full version of which is available for free on my website. I would like to start by putting the excerpt into context by giving a summary of the overview of my approach. I think of genre writing as having four components: concepts (theme, idea, plot, story etc), process (six stages: discovery, planning and research, organizing, revision, editing & polishing), language (grammar, prose-writing, figures of speech) and story-telling (the 6 elements of fiction, use of details, characters & symbolism). In addition I have a short “Random Thoughts” category for ideas that don’t easily fit into the four components just mentioned. 4 th stage – revision of craft – here’s where I make sure there’s enough detail for verisimilitude (having researched the accuracy of that detail during the previous stage) – not too much in one area and not too little ...