Tips on how to edit your own work

 

Your first draft if finished, now walk away for at least a day or two before you begin your editing process. If you can't afford to hire a professional editor to clean up your project, then you'll have to do it yourself. When I first started writing it took me ages to get the first page written because I kept rereading the page and editing, changing, and redefining the sentences. Finally, my writing mentor who was a previously published novelist who I adore finally got fed up with me during one of his biweekly catch-up phone calls to me when he asked how many pages I got written in the previous two weeks. My response was one page, and my reasoning was that the grammar and wording just didn't sound right to me. He snapped at me and gave me the best advice any writer could receive, stop editing and get the story out of your head and onto the paper or laptop in my case. Editing comes later. It's serious writing time. Now hang up the phone and get to writing and you better have at least 25 pages written by the time I call again or I'm not mentoring you anymore. Once I got the permission to write without editing as I go, my mind opened up and the story flowed out of my imagination and onto the screen of my laptop. By the time of his next call, I had over 50 pages written and I was halfway to finishing my novel. I love a good strong mentor. Another thing he told me was that if you don't like the color red don't send me your manuscript to read, because I'm going to rip it apart not to make you feel bad or destroy your work, but to make you a better writer. I've since taken on that motto so that if someone asks me to read their work, I'll tell them the same thing, if you don't like the color red, don't send me your work. Now on to editing tips. 

Once you return to your manuscript or written work, you'll not only have fresh eyes but also a clear head of what the story is about. You'll be reading it as if you were one of your new readers. You'll see grammar problems, sentence structure problems, and items that just don't seem to work in that paragraph. I recommend to everyone open a clean page in Word and copy and paste any items you delete from the original draft because you might be able to use it in another part of the story that works better for the story or plot. 

If you're writing a novel be sure to use the Chicago Manual of Style as your stylesheet go-to for grammar and spelling. Only use the AP Stylebook for journalistic writing, never for a novel. Also if you don't know how to create active vs passive voices in your writing, to help keep your prose very strong and engaging so that your readers don't get bored or confused, I'd suggest you learn before you start your novel. Try to stay away from passive voice sentences because active voice sentences are more powerful and direct because the character is acting out the verb action in your sentence, thereby creating a more powerful and direct active sentence. 

Filler words drive me nuts, you know by using too many 'like, he said, she said, that, or even okay or so'. Not only do these repetitive words cause havoc in your writing, but they also overcrowd your paragraph. Always remember that the number of words does not define your work. The breakdown of word count is as follows: novelette or short story is 17,000 to 20,000 words. Novella is from 20,000 up to 50,000 words. A novel is anywhere between 90,000 to 150,000 words depending on the type of story and the author. Anything over 150,000 words make the book a two-part series or maybe three depending on how long the story is. For example, the Harry Potter series had 1,084,170 words and was broken down into seven books. Not bad for JK Rowlings huh. 

Many famous authors have suggested to new writers that they should stay away from words that end in ly in their writings. Instead of using quietly use the word whispered or instead of using loudly use shouted. Make the word more active and more powerful to depict the situation the character is engaging in with another character to make sure the story is dynamic. Also, keep an eye on the size of your sentences, don't make them look like a long list of things to do or have been done, keep them consistent and not become boring to your reader. 

Once you think you're ready to publish, walk away and read it again in a few days. See if you feel the same way about what you wrote. If you see changes that need to be made, make them. But before you send any manuscript off to a publisher, ask someone you trust to be honest with you and give you truly critical feedback to read it for you.  You want them to red pen the crap out of your work, to help make you a better writer. Once you've made their changes and you're totally satisfied with your work, then start to circulate it to publishers. I'll go over publishers another time to help you understand your rights and the do's and don'ts of working with a publisher. What you can legally ask for and turn down if necessary. Until then, happy writing and editing your work. 

Author Elizabeth Kilbride is a former political operative, author, scriptwriter, historian, and journalist. business professional, creative artist, and life coach consultant. Ms. Kilbride holds a Master's in Criminology and a BS in Business Management she stepped out of the loop for a while but is now back with a powerful opinion and voice in the direction of this country and our economy. As a life coach, she is available to counsel individuals to enjoy their dreams and a better life. Ms. Kilbride loves to travel, and photograph her surroundings and is also a gourmet cook who loves to garden and preserve food for the winter months.