My Top Ten Tips for Self-Editing

Can an author do his or her own editing? The short answer is no.

Unless you can literally step out of your own head, you will never have the perspective necessary to see your work in its true light. You will miss typos. You won’t catch every plot hole or spot your own overused words and phrases. You may not realize that two of your favorite characters would be better combined into one. That actually happened to me. Writers need editors because although we have many of the necessary skills, we don’t have the one irreplaceable skill—distance.

With that said, can an author revise his or her manuscript so that editing is a pleasant rather than traumatic experience? The good news is yes, we can.

Here are my Top Ten Tips for preparing your manuscript for professional editing.

1. Allow yourself as much distance as possible.

Putting your work aside, even for a few days or a week, will give you greater perspective. Simple techniques like changing your font style, size, or color will help you see your work with fresh eyes. Trust me. This works.

2. Read each chapter aloud—or better still, have someone read it to you.

We all know that listening to a book is a different experience than reading one. Typos, repeated words, and awkward phrasing become obvious when you hear your work read aloud. Your reader doesn’t know what you meant. She reads what’s actually on the page. Print out by chapter so you can make notes in real time.

3. Vary your sentence structure and pay attention to rhythm.

This is the beauty of having someone read to you. The goal is to write so readers keep reading without having to stop and circle back. If your reader stumbles over your wording or must reread a sentence or paragraph, you’ll need to smooth out your syntax or clarify your meaning.

4. Eliminate to-ing and fro-ing unless critical to the plot.

This tip has to do with pacing. Do you really need to describe every mile of that half-hour car trip or include a paragraph about your character’s habit of grinding coffee beans? You might if it reveals something important. Not every plot will proceed at the breakneck speed of a thriller, but every plot should act like a line of falling dominoes, each point triggered by what went before and activating what comes next.

5. Do a computer search for clichés and repeated words and phrases.

We all have them—weasel words that worm their way into our manuscripts. Mine include little, just, suddenly, and really. Hunt them down and show them no mercy. Lists of common weasel words will help you find yours. If you spot a cliché, come up with a way to say the same thing in a fresh or more interesting way.

6. Change passive voice into active voice in most cases.

The passive voice is usually vague, wordy, and makes readers work harder. A simple way to turn a passive sentence into an active one is to move the subject (the actor) from the end of the sentence to the beginning. Instead of “My debut novel is being read by my book club,” write “My book club is reading my debut novel.”

Note: The passive voice is appropriate when the subject (the actor) is unknown or irrelevant—or if you want to be purposely vague.

7. Pay attention to the power positions in a sentence.

The first and especially the last words in a sentence are the most memorable, influential, and powerful. If you want your readers to remember something, put it in one of the two power positions. If you don’t want them to remember something (like a clue), stick it in the middle of a list. Don’t end your sentences with words or phrases that don’t matter. The same thing holds true for paragraphs and chapters. The final sentence in a paragraph is powerful. The final paragraph in a scene is powerful. Don’t waste your power.

8. Make sure your POVs are clear and consistent.

Point of view means the perspective from which your story is told. The subject is large and complex, so I’ll just make a few comments. Be sure you understand which POV you’re using and, most importantly, why. Your POV character is the one your readers will emotionally invest in. Don’t switch POVs without letting your readers know. Remember that your POV character can’t know what other characters are thinking or feeling, although they can guess.

9. Delete unnecessary words.

I read once that every typed page has at least ten filler words that can be eliminated without losing a thing. I’ve found that to be true, and as one who tends to write long rather than short, eliminating an average of ten words per page equals three thousand fewer words in a three-hundred-page manuscript. Even if you write short, adding extra words for the sake of it won’t improve your book. Make every word count.

10. Finally, “take out everything that isn’t the book.”

I’ve put this in quotes because Hank Phillippi Ryan said it in one of her classes, and it was a game-changer for me. No matter how much I love that turn of phrase, no matter how thrilled I am with that bit of research, if it has nothing to do with the story—if it can be deleted without effect—it has to go.

This list could be longer. What is your best editing tip?