Self-Editing for Writers: How to Know If Your Book Really Works

From Edie: PeggySue Wells shows writers how to self-edit your manuscript for structure, flow, clarity, character development, and reader impact before polishing the words.

Self-Editing for Writers: How to Know If Your Book Really Works

by PeggySue Wells @PeggySueWells

“Great writing. Great story. But what’s it about?”

That priceless feedback came from a skilled fellow author who kindly read my completed novel.

I spent so much time inside the manuscript that I understood connections the reader would not. There was what I meant, and there was what I wrote. Self-editing is the process of making sure what you meant and what you wrote are the same.

Once a manuscript is complete, there are several rounds of self-editing an author can do before sending that polished baby to beta readers, an editor, or a writing coach, and certainly before moving toward publication.

Does The Book Work?

The first edit is making certain the manuscript flows. Give your brain a minimum of a couple of days away from the manuscript. Two to four weeks is even better if your schedule allows.

Distance helps you see gaps, inconsistencies, unnecessary repetition, and sections that made perfect sense while you were writing but may leave a reader wondering what happened.

When you return, your goal is to read less like the author and more like the reader.

Read Without Line Editing

Begin with a complete read-through without stopping to polish individual sentences. Resist the temptation to polish sentences, rearrange commas, or hunt for the perfect verb. You have a more important question to answer:

For fiction, concentrate on whether the story flows, makes sense, remains believable, and gives the reader a compelling reason to keep turning pages.

For nonfiction, examine the structure, progression, pace, and usability. A reader should understand where you are taking them, why the information matters, and how each chapter moves them toward the book’s larger promise.

See the manuscript as a whole. Make notes as you read without fixing every problem the moment you encounter one. 

For Fiction: Examine The Story Essentials

Look for opportunities to deepen the story’s impact. Start with your characters.…

• What makes the protagonist relatable?
• Does the reader care enough about what happens to the character to keep turning pages?
• What does the character want?
• What obstacle stands between the character and that great want?
• Are the motivations of the key characters clear?
• Is the struggle difficult enough that the reader genuinely questions whether the character will succeed?
• Does the character their greatest fear?
• How does the character change or grow because of what happens?
• Does every character serve a purpose?

Consider how and when you reveal information to the reader. Backstory may be necessary for you to understand your characters, but the reader rarely needs all of that information at once. 

• Where can you replace backstory dumps with carefully placed revelations.?
• What can you withhold until later? 
• What detail would create a question now and become more meaningful when revealed several chapters later?

Suspense depends as much on when the reader learns something as on what the reader learns.

For Nonfiction: Examine The Reader’s Journey

For nonfiction, the focus shifts from moving the story forward to moving the reader forward.

• Does the project provide a unique slant or a fresh way of looking at the topic?
• Does each chapter have a clear focus?
• Do the chapters build naturally on one another?
• Does each chapter deliver something necessary to the book’s larger promise?
• Does the reader know why the information matters?
• When appropriate, does the chapter begin with a story that creates an emotional connection and establishes the value of what follows?
• Does the chapter leave the reader with greater understanding, a practical application, or a clear next step?

Watch for chapters or sections that are strong on their own but fail to advance the book as a whole. Even excellent material may need to go when the manuscript becomes stronger without it.

Trust Your Reader

For fiction and nonfiction, eliminate unnecessary repetition and redundancy.

Engaged readers remember what they have already read. Trust them to carry information forward.

Instead of repeating established information, make each new scene, chapter, or section earn its place by deepening, developing, complicating, or revealing something new.

Suppose investigators discover evidence at a crime scene. When that evidence surfaces again several chapters later, the reader does not need another description of everything already established. Give them something new. Show what an investigator suddenly notices, what conclusion becomes possible, what earlier assumption proves wrong, or how the evidence changes the direction of the investigation.

The same principle applies to nonfiction. Once you have clearly established an idea, avoid repeatedly explaining the same concept in slightly different language. Build on the idea. Add an example. Introduce a complication. Show an application. Move the reader forward.

Get Fresh Perspective

Changing the physical format can help you see the manuscript differently.

Many accomplished authors print their manuscripts and edit from a hard copy. Words that have become almost invisible after months on a computer screen can suddenly look different on paper.

Print the manuscript. Pick up a pen. Circle weak passages. Draw arrows. Cross out paragraphs. Write questions in the margins. Mark the places where your attention wanders.

The goal is not a clean page.

The goal is a stronger book.

Ask the Question Your Reader Will Ask

By the end of this editing stage, you should be able to step away from individual sentences and clearly articulate what your book is about.

What Is Your Book About?

For fiction, the answer reaches beyond the plot to reveal the character’s struggle, the stakes, the transformation, and ultimately why the story matters.

For nonfiction, the answer identifies the problem you help the reader solve, the transformation you promise, and the path you provide to help them get there.

“Great writing. Great story. But what’s it about?” Before you polish the words, make sure the book answers the question.

TWEETABLE

Self-Editing for Writers: How to Know If Your Book Really Works from @PeggySueWells on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Don't Miss the Rest of the Posts in this Series!

Part 1: The First Steps to Self-Editing Your Manuscript

Part 2: How to Know if Your Book Really Works

Action and adventure, romantic suspense, military romance, and cozy mystery are the page-turning novels by P.S. Wells including Chasing Sunrise, Homeless for the Holidays, and The Patent. How to live better, easier, and simpler is the focus of her nonfiction including The Ten Best Decisions A Single Mom Can Make.

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