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Editing Tips

Posted on January 5th, 2009 in Writing by Alexa Anderson
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Tips to help edit a manuscript or other material.

This is the method I use to edit a manuscript, but some of these techniques will work for any piece of writing.

First get a pen and notebook and be ready to take notes. Read the entire manuscript and do not make any changes. Make notes of problems you find at the macro level. This includes problems with plot, characterization/development, and overall flow of the story (you may need to delete or move scenes).

Make sure your story begins in the right place. Don’t start slow by dumping a lot of background information. Your readers don’t need to know about your main character’s childhood on page one. They will not be patient and stick with you while you tell unnecessary details. It is much better to dole out background information a little at a time throughout the story.

Begin your story with the event that changes your main character’s life. Read your work and look for it. Does it start in chapter two? If so, cut the entire first chapter.

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You must be able to cut your writing, no matter how perfect you think it is and how much you love it, there will be passages that need to be cut. Do it. Put the cut work into another file if you can’t part with the material. You may be able to use a modified version in another manuscript.

Don’t worry about micro (line) editing yet. Fix the big problems first. Once the big problems are corrected, move on to editing at the line level. Correct any grammar problems. Don’t rely on a word processing program to find your errors. Grammar checkers are created by computer programmers, not English teachers. Learn proper grammar.

Cull adverbs and adjectives. They are not your friends. Use strong nouns and verbs and you won’t need strings of adverbs and adjectives.

Use active voice instead of passive writing. Editors will love you for active prose.

Don’t use dialogue for filler to bump your word counts. Every word of dialogue should move the story forward or show characterization. Be careful of your dialogue tags (he said, she said) and replace as many dialogue tags with action tags (“Will you please stop?” He moved away from her in disgust.) as possible. If you must use a tag, use said. Readers don’t even register seeing said. Avoid tags like he retorted, he asked (if you use a question mark and say he asked you are engaging in a form of repetition). Be aware that dialogue isn’t written like real speech. Readers don’t want to read something like:

“Hi, Joe.”

“Hey, Mike. Uh. . .how are you today?”

“I’m fine,” Joe said. “And you?”

“Doing well. Thanks for asking.”

Watch out for repeating words on the same page. I’m not referring to common words. I mean things like:

He drifted into the shadows and waited for a victim to drift by his hiding place.

Show, don’t tell. Let me say that one again. Show what is happening, don’t report it. Telling distances the main character from the reader. You want your reader to experience what the main character is going through. An example of telling is: He felt fear at the sight before him. A better way might be: His stomach twisted into knots and a shiver crawled over his skin as the giant snake opened its mouth to swallow him.

When you are finished editing at the line level, print the manuscript and read it again. You will see mistakes that you missed when you read it on the computer screen. When you read from hard copy, read it out loud. Let your ear help you. You will find places that do not flow well when you read out loud.

When those things are fixed, put it away for several weeks (four to six) and don’t look at it. Then print the manuscript and read it. You will find more mistakes because you are reading it with fresh eyes and seeing what is really there, not what you thought was there.

When those things are fixed, find some beta readers and a critique partner (a good crit partner should be more experienced than you, unless you are on the professional level) and let them read it. Ask for feedback. If several people point out the same problems, it would behoove you to listen to them because it probably really is an issue.

Make the changes, read it again. Is it the best you can make it? If so, you are ready to send it out into the world. If not, keep editing until it shines.

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