From Edie: Learn how to self-edit your manuscript before sending it to an editor with practical tips for improving structure, flow, pacing, and readability in fiction or nonfiction writing.
The First Steps to Self-Editing Your Manuscript
by PeggySue Wells @PeggySueWells
Hooray! You completed your manuscript.
Congratulations, it’s time to celebrate. And then begin the next step, the self-edit before sending your polished baby to beta readers, an editor, a writing coach, and certainly before moving toward the publishing process.
Shifting from writing to editing has been compared to changing hats. The author takes off the writer’s hat and puts on the editing hat. These are two excellent, yet different skills. Each writer has their unique style, and the best way to write and edit is what works best for the author and for the project in process. Many authors find they work most effectively and efficiently when they write first and edit second.
Several rounds of self-editing will dramatically improve your book. This step moves the manuscript from overall project focus to structural and sentence-level polish.
1. Rest
You and your manuscript will benefit from setting the piece aside for at least a few days, and even better for two to four weeks. For the author, take a breather from the project. As your brain rests from the topic, your subconscious may bring something to the surface.
Distance helps you see gaps, inconsistencies, and repeated material. In the edit stage, the author reads more like a reader to catch weak scenes and sections.
2. Flow
When you are ready to begin, read the manuscript quickly without making line edits.
The most important element of the first edit for fiction is to ensure the story flows, makes sense, and is believable. For nonfiction, this is the time to sharpen the structure, pace, and usability for the reader.
Many authors, including multi-award winner DiAnn Mills, like to print the manuscript and edit on the hard copy. Seeing the story in a different format from the computer screen can offer a fresh view of a familiar project. Plenty of authors edit directly on the computer. Find the system that works best and keep in mind that what works best for one project may be different from what makes effective progress with another.
3. Read aloud
The ear picks up repeated pet words and awkward sentences in a way that reading silently will miss. When read aloud, dialog will sound natural or stilted, indicating where a rewrite is needed.
4. Evaluate the Structure
For nonfiction, focus on saying a lot about a little. Dig deep into a topic, rather than go wide. Resist sharing everything there is to know on the topic in favor of focusing on the unique, life-impacting insights and application you offer.
Similarly, with a fiction manuscript, ask if every chapter moves the story forward. Is each scene necessary to the story? Cut the fiction scenes that don’t move the story forward and are not necessary. Pull the sections from nonfiction that are not laser-focused. Use the cut and pulled sections for marketing. These can be shared as extras in newsletters, on blogs, and on social media.
Never throw away your writing. Instead, collect deleted parts into a file. Frequently, a piece can be used in another project, blog, social, or somewhere else in the work-in-progress. Sometimes the wording is exactly what you need to inspire.
In this initial read for nonfiction and fiction:
- Does the opening hook the reader?
- Are there sections that lag?
- Are there missing examples, explanations, or steps?
- Is the content presented logically in a way that compels the reader to keep turning pages? Do the stakes increase throughout the book?
- Does the ending satisfy the promise made in the beginning?
Be patient with the process of this overall edit. You’ve created a project that didn’t exist before. The manuscript is the result of your consistent creativity.
Once the broad edits are complete, the manuscript is ready for the next vital steps in the editing process.
TWEETABLE
PeggySue is a frequent guest with media including Focus On The Family, Family Life Today, and Christian Product Expo. She regularly teaches at conferences including Write To Publish, Taylor University Writers Conference, Kentucky Christian Writers Conference, and the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association. Collaborator on multiple titles including books with Dr. Benjamin Hardy, Shemane Nugent, Pat Palau, and Pam Farrel, PeggySue is a writing coach. When not writing, she parasails, skydives, snorkels, scuba dives, rides horses, and has taken (but not passed) pilot training. Founder of SingleMomCircle.com, connect with PS Wells at WWW.PEGGYSUEWELLS.COM, on Facebook at PeggySue Wells, and LinkedIn at LINKEDIN.COM/IN/PEGGYSUEWELLS
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