I love editors and proofreaders. They make our books better!

In this article and video I go through why you should work with an editor, the different types of editor, how to find an editor and how the process works, as well as the (inevitable) mindset issues around criticism. Watch the video below or here on YouTube, or read the article below.

Why work with a professional editor?

If you are self-publishing, you need to edit your book pre-publication. If you are aiming for a traditional publishing deal, you want to submit the best book you can, so using an editor to improve your craft can be well worth it.

An editor's job is to take the raw manuscript and improve it – whether that be through structural changes, line edits, suggestions of new material, or sentence refinement.

A professional editor has training and experience in shaping manuscripts and they will see your mistakes clearly, as well as know how to fix them. While you are mired in the weeds, they have a bird's eye view of your work and can pinpoint what will improve it.

If you want your book to be the best it can be, then working with an editor is the best way to do that.

You will learn from a professional editor and improve your craft based on their feedback, then you can carry those lessons into your next book, so it is an investment in your writing future.

Importantly, the editor should not fundamentally change your book. They should shape it into a better version of itself, retaining your voice and ideas while at the same time, improving it for the reader. This is a careful balancing act, which is why experienced editors are so highly prized!

What if they steal my ideas/manuscript?

This is a common concern of new authors who think that editors will run away with their book and make millions with their idea. But don't worry! Editors are professionals and they work within a contractual framework that protects both parties.

You can also register your copyright first if you are concerned about this – just google ‘register copyright in <your country.> This is certainly not necessary since copyright is yours as soon as you create the work, but it can ease an author's mind.

For more on copyright and contracts, check out The Self-Publisher's Legal Handbook by Helen Sedwick.

Different types of editor

There are several broad categories of editor.

A structural or developmental editor will work with you at a high level to shape the book into a coherent flow. They will read your manuscript and then provide a report that encompasses the entire book and will go through content organization, missing sections, tone and voice, as well as suggestions for improvement.

I used a structural editor for my first novel, Stone of Fire, and it helped me learn how to put the story together. Incredibly useful for that first book!

A technical editor is a specialist in a particular field and they will focus only on checking their area of expertise.

A copy editor or line editor focuses on improving sentences and grammar, as well as suggesting other ways of rephrasing ideas, and providing comment on anything else they pick up. Non-fiction books often use multiple styles, for example, chapter headings, sub-headings, action points, bullet points, call-outs and examples, so these will be examined at this phase.

The copy editor will usually use Track Changes on a MS Word document and this is the classic ‘red pen' edit where you can expect a lot of changes.

A proofreader is the final stage before publication. You will have made any changes based on the previous edits and then the proofreader will do a final check. They should not find much at this stage, but will likely point out typos or incorrect use of words, inconsistencies in formatting and other specific details.

You don't need all these editors for every book you write. But if you're struggling with the structure of your book, consider working with a structural editor. If you've never written a book before, then employing a copy editor is a good idea as you will have a lot to learn. And personally, I never publish a book without using a proofreader!

Beta readers

These are readers in your target market who read the book and offer comments on the content. They are not professional editors, so you can't expect them to pick up structural or grammatical issues, but they can be useful for feedback.

For my book, Career Change, I gave an early copy to people working in my department in the day job who I knew were dissatisfied with what they were doing. They came back with questions and suggestions for what to include as additional material. For The Healthy Writer, we asked medical doctors to read it as a sense check (even though my co-writer, Euan Lawson, is a doctor!)

I also use beta readers for specific cultural checks as I write about international settings and people. For Risen Gods, my beta readers included a Maori and a vulcanologist; for Destroyer of Worlds, I had a reader in Mumbai check it for specific details.

How to find a professional editor

Most authors will credit their editors in the Acknowledgments section of their books, so if there is a particular book you have enjoyed, then check out whether you can hire that editor. Many editors will have websites and write articles or go on podcasts, so you can usually easily find editors once you start looking.

Check whether the editor has experience in and enjoys your genre. This is critical because expectations will be different across the board. You don't want a literary editor working with you on a post-apocalyptic zombie thriller, or a non-fiction business book editor working on your romance!

Make sure the editor has testimonials from other happy authors, and check directly with the named client if you want to take it further. Some editors will do a test edit on one chapter, which helps both parties decide whether working together is appropriate.

Remember that most editors are booked up months in advance, so find one in advance of when you expect the book to be ready.

You can find my list of recommended editors here: www.TheCreativePenn.com/editors

How much does an editor cost?

This will depend on what type of edit you require, as well as how long your book is, and how experienced you are as a writer, so there is no set figure. Each editor will quote their rates on their website, so compare when you do your research.

Every dollar I have spent on editing has been worth it and I continue to use editors for every one of my books. The more eyes on your book before publication, the better it will be on launch.

What if you have a tight budget?

Working with a professional is always the best choice, so if possible, then save up to work with an editor. But of course, some writers can't afford this, in which case there are some other options. You can barter with other writers in the same genre, editing each other's work, or providing other services you might be more skilled at e.g. Marketing tasks.

You can workshop your writing in a writer's group, but I'm personally wary of ‘writing by committee,' and this may impact your personal writing voice, the thing that makes you special. You can also work with beta readers, some of whom may have deep knowledge as readers and may be able to offer great feedback.

How to work with an editor

When you engage an editor of any kind, you should receive a contract with a timeline as well as a price for the work. You will agree to deliver the manuscript on a particular date and usually pay a deposit, especially if this is the first time you are working together. The editor will agree to deliver the edits back on a certain date.

There may be provision to have a call to discuss the work, or it may purely be the delivery of a structural report or a line edit or proofread manuscript. I've worked with professional editors for the last ten years and have never had a call to discuss, but if you're the type of person who wants that, then make sure you put that into the contract upfront along with anything else you are concerned about.

If you have questions about the process, now is the time to ask them. This is a two-way relationship and you need to behave as professionally as the editor should. I've heard nightmare stories from both sides over the years, and these can usually be avoided by communicating expectations upfront and getting the contract sorted out early.

Once the preliminaries are agreed, submit the manuscript to the editor – usually by email in MS Word format. They will return it to you on the agreed timeline with Track Changes and any other documents e.g. structural report, style sheet, other notes.

When you get that email, particularly if it's your first book, make sure you are well rested and in a positive frame of mind before you open it. If it’s your first book, the editing process will be hard on your ego, but remember, the editor’s job is to make your book better and help you learn the craft. You are paying for them to give you critical feedback, not to pat you on the back and say ‘good job.'

If you have an emotional reaction to the comments, don't email back immediately. Let the comments rest with you for at least a few days and you will find it easier to accept them.

[If you're struggling, check out The Successful Author Mindset, available in ebook, print and audiobook]

Once you are ready, go through the manuscript and update your Master file, which for me, is always my Scrivener project.

I'd suggest working through each change so you can learn for next time, rather than just clicking Accept All on the Track Changes version. This will take time, but it's well worth it. I usually accept 80-90% of my editor's changes and the manuscript is improved considerably by the experience. After the line edits are updated, I send the manuscript to a proofreader for the final check before publication.

Happy editing!

When I finish my first draft, the first thing I do (after a gin and tonic!) is to print it out and put it in a folder ready for my first self-edit. 

I go through the book line by line and work on structure, as well as character, plot and setting. After that is sorted, I will look at word choice and dialogue. Essentially, self-editing is a huge part of the writing process. 

In today's article, Keirsten Clark gives some tips for self-editing essentials.

Every story needs a solid foundation, from there you can build upwards, tweak, pivot and rearrange. Without a solid foundation walls can become unstable, floors can shift and subside and vital pieces of the structure can fall down into places they’re not supposed to. The same can apply to our writing.

A solid foundation is one of the first things our editors look for as soon as they open a manuscript.

This helps them determine how much work needs to be done and how much more attention and care the manuscript will need to make it solid.

This article covers the essential underpinning of your foundation and how to address any potential issues you may have with it.

Continue Reading

I'm currently in the editing phase of my dark fantasy novel, Map of Shadows, and it's complicated to rework big picture stuff like story structure and character arcs, alongside the weeds of word choice and grammar.

But it's this polishing work that helps turn our piles of words into books that others might want to read. In today's article, Amira Makansi goes through a suggested editing process.  

Many writers are proud and thrilled when they get to type out the words THE END after finishing a manuscript. And well we should be!

Completing the first draft of a book is an enormous accomplishment, and many would-be writers out there have dozens of unfinished drafts in their desk drawers. But, ironically, typing out THE END is not the end of the writing process – not by a long shot.

Before your manuscript sees the light of day, whether in the form of a query to an agent, a pitch at a writer's conference, or digital self-publishing, it's imperative that you critically evaluate your novel and revise as necessary.

How does the revision process work?

Once you've finished your first draft, it's time to decide what works and what doesn't.

There are different levels of precision in the revision process, from broad-strokes plot elements, character development, and world building or “set design” down to the brass tacks such as language choice, grammar, and proofreading.

Before you submit your manuscript to an agency, a publishing house, or to the wide world of self-publishing, be sure to follow these steps to make sure your book is the best it can be.

1) After you've finished your book, let it rest for a month or two before beginning the editing process

In the immediate aftermath of typing those magical words THE END, you're not likely to be in a good place to objectively evaluate your work. You might be fired up and ready to charge ahead, but you're too close to what you've just written.

You're still in love with your fine word flourishes, your lovable but unnecessary characters, your plot device that bogs everything down but just makes you so happy. But in the revision process, it's critical to look at your novel from the perspective of a reader who knows nothing about you, your story, or how hard you've worked to bring your characters to life.

By tucking the manuscript away and returning to it after a few weeks or even a few months, you'll give yourself the time and space to withdraw emotionally from what you've just written. This will make you a more objective reader, and will put you in a better place to critically evaluate your work.

2) Diagnose your manuscript

The first thing to do when you return to your manuscript is to re-read it yourself and look at the big picture.

Think of this period as a diagnostic exam.

You are the doctor, and your manuscript is the patient. Take note of any plot holes that need to be fixed. Evaluate how thoroughly your characters are fleshed out. Think about the world you've created or the scene you've set – does it feel real? How can you make your novel healthier? What are the “illnesses” or weak links?

It's a good idea to take diligent notes during this period so you don't miss anything, and so you're organized and efficient when you sit down to make changes.

Here's a simple checklist of “diagnostic” points to think about as you're evaluating your manuscript:

• What are the plot holes, if any?
• Do I have a plan to fix them?
• Are there pacing issues? I.e., does the book move too quickly or too slowly at parts?
• If there are sections where the plot moves too slowly, can I cut chapters or sections to speed it up?
• If there are places where things are happening too quickly, how can I slow it down and expand moments to make it more accessible?
• Are my characters believable people with goals, motivations, and backstories?
• Will readers be able to relate to my protagonist(s)?

3) Bring your setting to life

In the first draft, it's best to be laser-focused on getting down the bones of your story. This generally includes key plot elements, major characters and their goals, and the rough sketches of a setting.

But now that you're in the revision process, it's time to bring your world to life. As you go through your diagnostic exam, take notes about how to flesh out and explore the setting of your novel.

• If parts of your story take place in an exotic city, think about how that city will look, feel, smell, and sound to your characters.
• If you're writing a science fiction novel, get creative in extrapolating current technology into the distant future.
• If you're writing historical fiction, put your reader on the streets of 17th century Oxford or Rome in the year 200 B.C.
• If you're writing fantasy or building a magical system, write down all the rules of your magic so your characters don't inexplicably break them.

The more you know about the setting of your world, the richer your book will be.

4) Dive into revisions!

I would argue that this is the most important stage in the entire process of writing a novel.

If you've completed the second and third steps effectively, this stage can be a single, intensive pass through your manuscript wherein you have the opportunity to address all the issues you saw and noted, while at the same time using your setting notes to flesh out your world and make it feel real.

You can do this methodically, starting at the beginning and moving forward chapter-by-chapter, or you can do it by starting with the biggest problem areas and working out from there.

This will most likely be a time-consuming and labor-intensive period, so be patient!

Unlike with the first draft, when your goal was simply to get words on the page and give yourself something to work with, this time the goal is to come out with a story that works, well-developed characters who are sympathetic to the reader, and a world that feels comprehensive and immersive.

5) Seek out beta-readers

Phew! Now that you've completed the first pass of revisions, it's time to find out what, if anything, you've missed.

Beta readers can be a great resource for improving your work. A beta reader is a person who agrees to read and “beta test” your manuscript by giving you feedback on what works and what doesn't from her perspective.

The process of finding and effectively using beta readers is an interesting one, and there have been many blog posts dedicated to the topic. I recommend finding 3-5 readers, and a mix of writers and non-writers, to read your manuscript draft and tell you what works for them and what doesn't. Preferably, you'll find people who read in your genre – if you're writing science fiction, someone who only reads literary fiction isn't going to help you too much.

There are a few important things to remember when using beta readers:

1. They're just opinions. If one person out of ten hates your protagonist, but everyone else loves him, it's probably okay to ignore what the outlier thought. But if three out of five hated him, maybe it's important to think about why.
2. Ask good questions – but do it after they've finished your book. You don't want to “spoil” anything or prejudice your readers in advance. But if you're concerned about an aspect of your story, or how you used a particular literary technique, don't be afraid to ask.
3. It's your job to synthesize the feedback you've gotten. You don't have to accept everything every single reader says, but nor should you ignore a persistent emerging theme. Take the advice or concerns each reader has and synthesize it into a revision plan for Step 6.

For more information about beta readers and how to use them, check out this post from the Self-Publishing Advice blog at the Alliance of Independent Authors, or this post from K.M. Weiland on why non-writers are the best beta readers.

[Note from Joanna. You don't need to use beta readers, so this is just a suggestion. I personally prefer to use a professional editor these days.]

6) Synthesize your feedback from beta-readers and edit for language and grammar

This is your third pass.

Now that you've gotten feedback from beta readers, you'll want to synthesize their feedback into a revision plan for your third pass. During this pass, you have the opportunity to get into the nitty-gritty of your language, about which some of your beta-readers may have offered feedback.

• How can your language be clearer, more concise, more impactful, and more elegant?
• Where can you cut modifiers? Can you choose more powerful or precise words in place of those that only kinda-sorta work?

This is called a line edit. This is the stage of the process where, for newer writers, it can be helpful to hire a professional editor to work with you to improve the quality of your writing. Even very experienced authors often hire a line editor to read for clarity and grammar.

7) Read your novel aloud and make changes as you go

This may sound time-consuming (and it is) but trust me, it is so worth it!

When you read your manuscript aloud, you catch little problems with word choice, over-writing, grammar, and rhythm that you wouldn't have noticed otherwise. Not to mention that if you ever want to hear your book read aloud as an audiobook, this step is critical.

I cannot emphasize enough the value of reading every word out loud, and making changes to sentence structure and word choice as you go. You will find yourself deleting a lot of extraneous words that you thought were oh-so-necessary in the written drafts. You can thank me later!

8) Hire a proofreader

If you plan to seek a traditional publisher, you don't necessarily need to do this step – but you do need to read your own work very, very carefully, as agents are more likely to reject your manuscript out of hand if there are loads of typos and grammatical mistakes – even if they love the concept.

If you're planning to self-publish, this step is absolutely critical. Because by this point you should have gone over your manuscript a minimum of four times – writing, big picture revisions, beta-reader synthesis, and reading aloud – you'll be too familiar with your work to catch all the errors.

It's notoriously difficult to proofread your own work, and so, whether traditionally publishing or going indie, it's imperative to ensure your work is clean, error-free, and professional. You can find a list of editors and proofreaders here.

9) Celebrate and be humble

Congratulations! You did it!

If you've made it all the way to the end of these steps, you've successfully taken a book from rough draft to polished, publishable manuscript. Remember to be humble and grateful along the way.

Thank your beta readers, your editor, and your proofreader for all the work they've done on your behalf – even if you're paying them. Be grateful, not angry, for any criticism you receive. Remember, all feedback, whether positive or negative, is just a stepping stone to an improved finished product.

What are your favorite revision practices? Will you add any of these steps to your process? Please leave your thoughts below and join the conversation.

Amira Makansi is a professional editor, a hybrid author, and one-third of the K. Makansi writing trio responsible for the young adult dystopian Seeds trilogy. The first book in that series, THE SOWING, has been optioned for a Hollywood production.

Her forthcoming work is represented by Andrea Somberg of Harvey Klinger literary agency. You can learn more on her website, The Z-Axis. You can follow her on social media via Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.

When you're a new writer, you tend to compare your first draft with someone else's polished finished book. 

But you can't compare the two because the difference is in the editing. Here are some tips that you could use when editing your next book from Jess Lourey and Shannon Baker.

You’ve spent months writing that book. Your work included deep research on setting, juggling Scrivener, notecards, and airplane glue to get that plot just right, and diving so deep into the head of your character that you were dreaming her dreams. But now you’re done. Those 90,000+ glorious words are laid out, one after the other, a beautiful first draft.

Time to get an agent or self-publish, right?

Nope. Now it’s time to edit.

Personally, I love editing. It’s like I’ve lugged all the wood, cement, and nails needed to construct this house, and now I get to decorate it.

Other writers hate the editing process, though. They just want to be done with the book already. Whatever camp you’re in, you can make the editing process (even) better by adopting these four editing hacks that Shannon Baker, author of the latest in the Kate Fox mystery series, Dark Signal, and me, author of the recently-released humorous mystery March of Crime, swear by.

Editing Hack #1, from Shannon:

I’m visual, so when I finish my draft, I synopsize each chapter in Scrivener’s corkboard, print it out, and tack it to a real corkboard. Then I tag the ¼ , ½, ¾ places so I can make sure I’ve hit turning points and twists to keep the pace flowing. I can color code point of view and track subplots.

From there, it’s a matter of making revision ideas with sticky notes, and starting in on the rewrites.

Editing Hack #2, from Jess:

Read your book out loud. I know you’ve heard this hack, and you’ve discarded it because it’s dumb, right? Your eyes can see your book just fine so why would you bother reading it loud, which is dorky and uncomfortable. This is why:

“I cnduo't bvleiee taht I culod aulaclty uesdtannrd waht I was rdnaieg. Unisg the icndeblire pweor of the hmuan mnid, aocdcrnig to rseecrah at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mttaer in waht oderr the lterets in a wrod are, the olny irpoamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rhgit pclae.”

You see what your eyes did? They made sense where there was none.

Your ears will not let you down that way. They are parabolic workhorses that will tell you when your flourishes are overdone, your rhythm is too consistent, your grammar not quite right. Read out loud. You gotta.

(Shannon here: Thank you for explaining that to me! I know you’re supposed to read it out loud, and I do, but now I won’t feel so silly about it.)

Editing Hack #3, from Shannon:

We all have crutch words. Common little parasites can include “just,” “that,” “how,” and “with.” My characters smile, nod, half-smile, and turn entirely too much. My latest book contained these culprits: clenched, disgust, dark, dark clouds, place, put, but, get, sat [houses and cars don’t sit], have, look, stride, strode.

Search and destroy.

Or, if you are typing in Word, find and replace.

I always do a search for “I saw” (thought, looked, etc.) if I’m writing first person. “She saw” (etc.) if writing third person. Generally, your point of view will be closer (therefore making your readers feel more infused in the action) if you eliminate those phrases.

Editing Hack #4, from Jess:

This editing hack, which I call the ARISE Method, was a game-changer for me. I developed it when writing Salem’s Cipher, my feminist thriller, in the fall of 2015. The book is intricately-plotted with four character POVs, multiple subplots, and 8 different settings. I needed a way to keep all that in play, and so I developed ARISE editing. The foundation of this method is that every scene in your novel must serve at least one purpose. It must offer the reader:

• Action
• Romance or Humor
• Information
• Suspense or
• Emotion

I go into more detail about the method in my book Rewrite Your Life: Discover Your Truth Through the Healing Power of Fiction, but here it is in a nutshell.

1. Summarize each scene of your novel in three or fewer sentences.
2. Write those summaries on a notecard, one card per scene. If you have multiple POVs in your novel, dedicate a specific color of notecard to specific POV. So, for example, all scenes from Chuck’s POV will be green, and all scenes from Clara’s POV will be yellow.
3. Review the notecards, and put as many of the ARISE letters as fit into the upper right corner of each notecard. If the scene has romance, pencil in an R. If it also has emotion, pencil in an E, and so on.
4. If a scene has no letters, chuck it, no questions asked. If it only has one letter, consider what you can add to it to give it at least two. Pencil in a note to yourself on that card. If it’s got at least three letters, it’s golden.

Revise your manuscript based on what you’ve discovered in the notecards, and bizango! You have a neat, sweet, guaranteed page-turner on your hands.

(Shannon here: I’m SO going to use this on the book I just finished! Thanks for this.)

Do you have any favorite editing tips? Please share them below and join the conversation.

Please join Shannon and Jessie as they continue their blog tour. They will each be giving away three books this tour, and every comment you leave at a blog stop gets you one chance to win.

Jess Lourey (rhymes with “dowry”) is best known for her critically-acclaimed Murder-by-Month mysteries, which have earned multiple starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist, the latter calling her writing “a splendid mix of humor and suspense.” She is a tenured professor of creative writing and sociology, a regular Psychology Today blogger, a sought-after workshop leader and keynote speaker who delivered the 2016 “Rewrite Your Life” TEDx Talk, and the author of Rewrite Your Life, the only book out there which shows you how to turn your facts into healing, page-turning fiction. You can find out more at jessicalourey.com.

Shannon Baker is the author of the Kate Fox mystery series (Tor/Forge). Set in the isolated cattle country of the Nebraska Sandhills, Kirkus says, “Baker serves up a ballsy heroine, a colorful backdrop, and a surprising ending.” She also writes the Nora Abbott mystery series (Midnight Ink), featuring Hopi Indian mysticism and environmental issues. Shannon makes her home in Tucson where she enjoys cocktails by the pool, breathtaking sunsets, a crazy Weimeraner, and killing people (in the pages of her books). She was voted Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer’s 2014 Writer of the Year. Visit Shannon at Shannon-Baker.com

Writing a book is a process and it can be broken down into parts.

There's the idea gathering and then creative outpouring of the first draft when you can banish critical voice.

But then the editing begins, and the first step is self-editing, a crucial part of the process that will also help you save time and money with a professional edit in the next round.

Today's article is from Tania at New York Book Editors, who provide professional editing for independent authors.

Learning how to edit your own work is a critical skill for any writer.

Even if you’re going to be working with a professional editor down the line, it’s always a good idea to take a crack at it on your own first. That way, you ensure your editor is helping you with problems you couldn’t have fixed yourself. You’ll learn more from their edit this way – and it will save both of you from wasting your time.

But what is a self-edit? It isn’t simply a proofread, though cleaning up your prose and checking for errors can be a critical final step. You, on your own, have the ability to find and address a whole host of narrative and stylistic problems. So if you’ve just finished your first draft and are wondering what kind of work it might need, here’s a list of things you can check for:

(1) Are the style and tone of your book consistent, and more broadly, do you know what genre you’re writing in?

Of course, your manuscript might not fit neatly into one genre. But having a sense of what your book is can help you figure out what kind of reaction you want to elicit in the reader, and by extension, whether or not your writing is achieving that goal.

For example, if you’re primary goal is to build a taut and thrilling mystery, throwing in too many comedic digressions could easily deflate tension and kill the suspense. A little bit of dark humor is a detective novel staple, but save the loose, zany passages for a humor-based project.

(2) Are there gaping holes in your plot?

Carefully planning out your story before you write can help prevent this, but as we know, not everything always goes according to outline. A potential way to search for gaps in logic, contradictions, or other narrative blips after writing is to retroactively outline your story.

Make a list of exactly what you’ve got on the page, without adding in any explanations or other connective tissue that isn’t present in the manuscript. Then read your outline carefully and make sure everything adds up.

(3) Are all your characters people, rather than plot devices?

A common problem with beginning writers is that they throw in characters – especially minor characters – who exist solely to steer the protagonist in a particular direction. They might not have a personality or they may behave inconsistently.

Watch out for characters who appear at a train station in Connecticut to have an argument with your protagonist, even though they live in New York City. Make sure that you, the author, understand why each character is doing everything they do, and think about whether the sort of person who did X on page 13 would also do Y on page 50.

Every person in your story needs their own goals, desires, and problems to contend with, even if those issues are not explained to the reader directly in the text. Because trust me, if your characters are a blank in your mind, they’ll read as hollow on the page.

(4) Do you have a lot of “dead” dialogue that’s bogging down your scenes?

It’s said that good dialogue is always “authentic,” but this is a bit of a fallacy – good dialogue mimics the way people talk, but is usually more streamlined. All the “ummmm” and “you know” and “hi, how are you?” junk that fills normal conversation often sounds incredibly awkward and plodding on the page, because it doesn’t do anything. It doesn’t move the conversation forward, or give us a sense of character, or impart information. So unless you are trying to write awkward dialogue – because, for example, you want to illustrate that two characters have nothing to say to each other – start crossing out all those tiny bumblings and exchanges.

Pay particular attention to the beginning of a conversation; people often spend a fair amount of time making innocuous chit-chat before they launch into the real substance of their discussion. And while this is all well and good in life, it can be murderously boring to read in a book!

(5) Are you doing too much writerly “throat clearing”?

This is a very natural part of the thought process involved in writing – you’re not always sure what you want to say, or how to say it, so you just start putting words on paper until you hit on the right thing. But afterwards, all of that thought-junk has got to go – it slows down the pace of your story, dilutes the intensity of your writing, and is often boring to read.

The same holds true for scenes. You may feel the need to lay out everything that happens from the moment a character walks into a room, because this gets you into the mindset and rhythm of the events you’re depicting. But the important stuff may not actually happen until that character has been in that room for five minutes. So when you revise, think about what the reader actually needs to see, hear, and know, and cut what isn’t needed to get us there.

(6) Does your writing feel natural and smooth to read?

Flow and rhythm are incredibly important to the way that humans process language, to the point where awkward language use will make your writing difficult for your reader to understand. Read your text out loud – if you find yourself stumbling over a particular phrase or passage, you know something is wrong.

(7) Did you write too much?

One of the biggest mistakes writers make is that they simply write too much: too many words, phrases, sentences, and even paragraphs – especially when it comes to description. Writers will describe an object in three different ways when finding one – the right one – is infinitely better. Or they’ll explain things that are clearly implied by action and dialogue:

“Ann strode into the office and slammed the door behind her. She was angry. My assistant got up to leave. “Stay right there,” said Ann in a menacing tone.”

She was angry and her menacing tone aren’t necessary. The reader will know she’s angry.

The main difference between beginning writers and experienced ones isn’t that experienced ones are immune from this problem. It’s that they’ve mastered the process of going back through their prose and cutting the superfluous or redundant bits.

When you reread your work, consider whether any descriptions, actions, or dialogue are simply reinforcing each other. Then select the more interesting or telling way of saying the same thing.

Most of these points cover large issues and take time to fix, but don’t be discouraged.

Simply being aware of some of the problems, recognizing them in your own work, and fixing as many as you can, will improve your manuscript significantly.

It takes a lot of practice in self-editing to get to the stage where you know instantly when something is off – and you understand how to fix it.

Every step you take in that direction will make self-editing a little easier in the long run. (Although it will never be a walk in the park!)

If you need professional editing help, check out New York Book Editors for manuscript critique, comprehensive edits, copyediting or ghostwriting.

Do you have any tips, techniques, or questions to share about self-editing? Leave them in the comments below.