OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
Investing in professional editing (and cover design) is generally my #1 tip when it comes to self-publishing.
Before you scan this post looking for a sanction to skip editing, let me save you some time:
A self-edit is not a replacement for a professional copyedit
Authors are simply too close to their own writing to see it objectively.
Even with your attention dialed up to 11, there’s always the possibility that you moved a section and forgot to erase the original. And after reading that section 7,213 times, the 7,214th can slip right by you like Obi-Wan at a costume party.
Your own mind can Jedi-mind-trick you. This post is not the excuse you’re looking for.
But if you like getting your hands dirty . . .
Your book has to meet readers’ expectations, both in broader developmental issues like story and content, and in the smaller details. And there are steps you can take to get your manuscript into the best shape possible, both organizationally and typographically.
Some of my suggestions are developmental; others deal with common sentence-level issues that I’ve encountered. You certainly don’t have to take every step—that’s what editors are for—but here are 10 editing secrets that can help you fake a pro edit before an editor enters the picture.
1. Put the manuscript away
Separating yourself from your manuscript and coming back to it with fresh eyes enables you to finally see what’s on the page, rather than superimposing what was in your mind when you wrote it.
In nonfiction, you might catch yourself introducing terms without defining them or scattering topics around your book; in fiction, you may notice that your living, breathing characters don’t have quite the vibrancy you thought you’d given them, or that your storyline rambles.
In any case, you’ll be better able to catch those sneaky copied-and-pasted sections if you can go through the book as a reader, forgetting what it felt like to actually write it.
2. Make an outline
It doesn’t matter if you write romance, science fiction, or how-to guides—an outline can and will help you avoid catastrophe.
You don’t have to use Scrivener or make one of those Roman numeral things you learned to make in school. The important part is writing down the main ideas in each section of the book, then looking carefully at how they relate (or don’t) to the ideas around them.
I like to write on small pieces of paper, then rearrange them on my desk to see how they best fit; adopt whatever method works for you. But without an outline, you run the risk of forgetting where you’re going, and then forgetting to clean up after it.
You want readers to reach the end of the book with a feeling of satisfaction, not niggling questions about whatever happened to the gorgeous babe from the stables who dropped out of the cast somewhere in chapter 3, or why chapter 6 refers to future subject matter that doesn’t actually appear in the book.
3. Make a style sheet
If you don’t already keep a style sheet as you draft, that’s fine—many authors don’t—but a style sheet is an important part of editorial review. Editing is not just about correctness; it’s also about consistency, and a good style sheet ensures that a document is internally consistent.
Divide a sheet of paper into a grid and alphabetize the cells, or simply open a new Word document, and bam—you have yourself a style sheet!
Now, carefully go through the whole manuscript, word by word. As you come across them, list out:
- Proper nouns (characters, cities, organizations, etc.), both real and made up
- Anything you had to look up
The scope of that second point is the difference between a tight style sheet and a floppy one (and, for that matter, between an experienced and inexperienced copyeditor). If you don’t know to look something up, you won’t write it down—and you may not notice that you treat the issue differently the next time it comes up.
4. Read aloud
You may think this sounds silly, but I assure you, it is not. I may not be able to tell instantly that an author has read a manuscript aloud—but I can absolutely tell you when an author has not.
Even if you’re reading to an empty room, reading aloud makes you slow down so your eyes can’t gloss over anything, and it forces you to listen to the cadence of your writing. I’m all for long, eloquent, beautifully written constructions (see #7), but if you find yourself pausing three times to breathe before you get through a sentence, consider breaking it into smaller, more manageable pieces.
5. Keep an eye out for compound words
This is a copyeditor’s secret: train yourself to be hyperaware of each individual word, and know that just because spell-checker doesn’t flag something doesn’t mean you’re in the clear. Any time two separate words are crunched together, ask yourself: hyphen, space, or closed?
An example: Is it “collarbone,” “collar bone,” or “collar-bone”? Look it up, and add it to your style sheet so you don’t have to look it up again.
6. Untangle your dashes
There are three kinds of dashes: hyphen ( – ), en dash ( – ), and em dash ( — ). Short, medium, long. But let’s forget about the middle dash for the moment; you’re much more likely to need one of the two extremes.
Chicago devotes many pages to dashes, but here’s the quick and dirty: Hyphens join words, while em dashes join clauses.
My name, “Kolb-Williams,” gets a hyphen—but I used an em dash to separate this clause.
Some authors use hyphens as a catch-all dash-but as you can see here, the hyphen confounds. There’s no such thing as a “dash-but,” and it takes a few runs through the previous sentence to catch the syntax.
(Incidentally, en dashes can stand for “to” in ranges: the Seattle–Vancouver line, 8:00–12:30. For more exciting punctuation, see CMOS.)
7. Semicolon-“however”-comma
Ahh, the semicolon. It seems to be going the way of the dinosaur. Personally, I miss this “outdated” writing style in which semicolons are frequently employed to join two separate sentences together in unity, if they feel sufficiently attracted to each other to make the commitment.
One way the semicolon continues to stand proudly is in the “however” construction, however more than one excellent writer has stumbled over it.
See what I did there? Here’s the right way:
A semicolon feeds my nostalgia; however, in this case, it is a necessary punctuation.
Now you know! Go forth and punctuate. (You could also break this into two sentences.)
8. Move the awkward abbreviations
Abbreviations like “etc.,” “e.g.,” and “i.e.” have their uses, but I believe (and Chicago agrees with me) that these awkward-looking words should not appear in regular text.
Instead, keep those abbreviations set off in parenthesis and footnotes—places that function as an aside—leaving the main text free for those words we can hear spoken in our minds (like “and so on,” “for example,” and “in other words”).
9. Write out your numbers
Digits tend to stick out aesthetically. For example, soften your gaze and look gently at your screen as you scan the following sentences:
She collected 4 carrots, 5 apples, and 11 monkeys.
He produced twelve pens, one paperclip, and three notebooks.
If one of them doesn’t stick out over the other to you, it’s only because you’re determined to prove me wrong. (Probably because of a deep-seated attachment to AP style. It’s okay. We can still be friends.)
Sticking with the idea of words we can hear in our minds, spell out more numbers than you might think. Readers don’t hear digits, they hear words. (I’m not sure, but I like to think this is why Chicago’s convention is to spell out most numbers from 1 to 100.)
There are exceptions. Spelling out long and complex numbers is patently ridiculous (“1,298,525” would require way too many words), and decimals and fractions are a different story entirely. But for your nice, plain numbers, your twos and fifties and eleven hundreds, use words.
10. Share it with beta readers
No, this isn’t “self-editing” per se—but it’s more important than everything else on this list combined.
Even if you have no desire to do any further critical thinking about your book whatsoever, give it to beta readers and let them do the work for you. Collect feedback from a handful of readers, and whenever two or three of them suggest the same thing, seriously consider doing that thing.
True, your beta readers might not care about your dashes, semicolons, or compound words. That’s fine; your copyeditor can clean that up. But they’ll be able to give you a new reader’s perspective, and that feedback will be worth its weight in gold.
What are your questions about editing, or do you have editing tips to share? Please add them in the comments below and join the conversation.
Find her at kolbwilliams.com or on Twitter (@skolbwilliams).
View Comments (84)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1 2 3 4 Next »One of the most helpful and useful blog posts I've seen in a long time. Thank you.
Karen, thanks so much!
Very helpful information. Thanks for sharing! Would doing self editing like you've described here help to reduce the cost of a professional edit?
Thanks for the kind words, Ben! As far as reducing cost: every editor is different, and I certainly can't answer for all of them -- but personally, I present my rates in price ranges to give myself a little bit of wiggle room. I'll generally charge the lower end of the range when a manuscript is in great shape simply because it will take less time, but if I see that a manuscript will need a bit more help, I'll charge a bit more.
Any other editors out there who do this differently and charge a flat rate regardless of the state of the manuscript? I'd love to hear from you!
I charge a flat rate. $0.50 cents a page, double spaced. If the MS is so bad, I will edit 10-12 pages and then return it, without charge. I will point out the glaring errors in grammar, style, punctuation and tell them to resubmit when all the errors have been resolved.
The second time around, as long as it is in reasonable shape, I will charge the $0.50 cents a page if double spaced. If it still sucks after 10 pages, I return it and terminate the conversation.
Anyone need an edit?
Robin, shoot me an emai - Ken Farmer - pagact@yahoo.com
Might have some folks that could use your services.
Thanks, Sarah, for this helpful collection of editing tips. #4 and #10 are my personal favorites when self-editing!
As a freelance editor, I charge a flat rate of $5 per 1000 words (this works out to $1.25 per standard, 250-word, manuscript page) for combined copy editing/line editing services. I went with a flat-rate structure both to allow indie authors to plan their budgets in advance of the job as well as to keep the cost for my services reasonable. I'm always happy to talk with new clients, and provide a 10-page sample edit to determine if the author and I are a good fit. Feel free to visit my website for more information, and drop me a note if you have any questions :)
Great stuff. I read aloud so regularly when I'm writing, it's common to hear "What?" ringing from other rooms if the house happens to be occupied at the time. I find it particularly helpful with dialogue. I'm a fool for natural sounding dialogue and trying it out vocally is the only way to go.
I also love the semicolon, although I tend to fret over it every single time I press that key. Would this be better as two sentences? Would a simple comma suffice? No. No, this is semicolon territory all the way. I'm using it.
"What?"
Mark, yes! It seems logical that we should be able to "hear" speech perfectly well in our minds when we read silently, but that's just not always the case. Sometimes I'll even give my characters accents when I read aloud -- even if they don't actually have them in the story -- just because it helps to remind me to pay attention to each character's unique voice so they don't all end up sounding exactly the same. (OK, and also because it's fun.)
Great article, Sarah. Especially reading aloud is one of the most effective ways to eliminate mistakes. I also dedicate an hour on sunday afternoons to still have a final look at the articles I posted throughout the week, it helps! Best of luck!
Ali, thanks so much! I read aloud all the time, and I think my dog has finally learned I'm not necessarily talking to him... :)
A great checklist, Sarah. Many thanks!
Just a small correction:
http://grammarist.com/usage/deep-seeded-deep-seated/
Gah!! I really did use "seeded," didn't I -- and I recently had a conversation about this very thing, too. (A friend didn't believe me that "mother lode" was a thing, and we went on some serious tangents from there.) Proving my own point here about how difficult it is to edit your own (or at least MY own) writing!
And for the record, I'm definitely having my book copyedited. (By someone else.) Good catch!
Hi Sarah, great post and very timely for me as I'm currently editing a novel I wrote ages ago and didn't really structure first time around. Your advice about the outline is going to be key for me in order to tighten up what I fear is quite a flabby book. I suspect when I do that a sizeable re-write may be needed!
With regard to fresh eyes, do you think it's worth getting a professional critique or let your beta readers do that and save your money for professional editing?
Thanks.
LM, congratulations on digging up that novel and moving it forward! Very exciting!
As far as the professional/beta issue, it really depends (just what you wanted to hear, right?) on the type of people who agree to be your beta readers. They'll be able to tell you where they were confused or lost, and therefore where future readers will also be confused or lost -- but they may not be able to recognize all areas with room for improvement. I firmly believe that every project can benefit from objective feedback; whether that requires a professional depends on your manuscript and your beta readers.
Of course, not all readers are up to the task of giving their brutally honest opinions; no one wants to hurt a friend's feelings. When you find beta readers whose opinions you trust and who you know won't hold back, don't ever let them go!
Yes, I read aloud and notice weird things and especially repetitions of words or strange constructions. Leaving the work aside for a while makes you focus more otherwise you read what's in your head rather than what's on the page, screen. Actually printing also can make you see things that you miss on the screen.
I also like semi-colons.
Another semicolon fan! :)
Printing is a great way to catch things you didn't catch onscreen. I generally try to look at documents in a different format the second time around, whether it's on my Kindle or on paper. Things I missed the first time through tend to pop right out at me!
As a copy editor, I have to point out that if we are going to use Latin phrases, we should also check those before we write them. They are often written differently to the way they are spoken out loud; a case in point is per se. (In or of itself) Not per say! :-)
Robin, you got me -- guess I proved my own point that everyone needs an editor (even editors)!
I like to think I'm perfect, but I guess I'm just close! btw, I love the semi-colon; it delivers where no comma ever could. People who ignore it or shy away from it are losing out on nuance and pace that no other punctuation can give. We use it when we speak, unwittingly, all the time. We pause, hesitate and procrastinate; this is where the semi-colon rules!
As another btw, I can line edit anyone's books for a very reasonable rate. Contact me if you need one.
and another btw; I know it's hard to convey humour in the written word but my comment about being perfect was meant to be tongue-in-cheek! Seriously, these are good ideas, rules, comments; call them what you will. Sarah's thoughts are most welcome.
I also read aloud, particularly the dialogue. It also helps if you get someone else to read the second speaker; make it a conversation in real time.
For simple spelling errors, read it backwards. you will pick up things like 'ten' when it should be 'then' which spell check will overlook. It takes tile bug it does work.
Robin -- tile bug!! Love it.
When I cross over into the "perfect" category, you'll be the first to know! Save me a spot? :) Long live the semicolon!
Well, Robin, with both of us thinking we're perfect...LOL. I hate the semi-colon. My God, I'm using 'hate' for punctuation—let's just say a strong dislike. Much prefer the EM. Find it better matches the flow and pace I want to establish in the narrative. However, I never use the EM in dialogue—prefer the ellipses. It's the screenwriter coming out in me. Different strokes for different folks.
Semicolons for technical writing, yes. Semicolons for creative writing, no! It's about style and flow--it does matter. I defer to Kurt Vonnegut (an acclaimed writer and more successful than everyone frequenting this site, learn from the BEST) on the subject.
"Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you've been to college." --Kurt Vonnegut
Good point, and one I have to constantly remind myself of when it comes to writing fiction. My rewrites usually involve quite a bit of removing lovingly placed semicolons and breaking complex sentences down into simpler, clearer ones. (And it's truly amazing how obvious this need becomes when I put something away and come back to it a few weeks later. Alas, I must resign myself to the fact that I do not possess Ayn Rand's talent for using semicolons elegantly!)
Sarah... perhaps you should change expectation in this phrase "Your book has to meet readers’ expectation" to expectations. Just a thought...
Maybe I should :)
Carol Saller has a great post that I like to read whenever I'm kicking myself for letting boneheaded mistakes through in my own writing; even the pros behind Chicago are not exempt from mistakes! The comments on this post remind me that I'm in good company: http://www.subversivecopyeditor.com/blog/2013/03/copyeditor-confessions-me-first.html
Good catch!
yestirdey I cud knot spel editur, twodey I are wun....
*snort*