Book 3 is finished at last, and I’m doing the first of several edits and polishing jobs. Here are a few tips on polishing your work until it sparkles.
- Read for Flow and Rhythm – do your first pass for the overall story. Does it flow and lead logically from one scene into another? Is it an overall good story or does it lag in spots? Does the tension escalate to a climax?
- Read for Nit-Picks – do another pass looking for those typos and grammatical errors. It helps for this stage if you print the manuscript out and actually “read” it backwards: start at the end and look at every word until you reach the beginning. You’re more likely to spot a misspelling or incorrect word choice that way.
- Read for Dialogue – does your dialogue flow properly, advancing the plot, or does it halt the action and take the readers off on a tangent? Do your characters speak with their own individual voices?
In between your readings, feel free to rewrite as necessary until you have the book you’ve been dreaming of.
Revision can be tough. Sometimes it’s hard to take a good, clear look at what you’ve written.
Here are some good tips to get you started on the revision process:
- Start at the beginning – Editing is easier when you follow your story the same way your readers will. Starting on page one will not only help you to catch typos, but allow you to check for plot holes, continuity and characterization.
- Highlight all passive verbs. Look for is, are, was, were and has/have been. If the sentence can be rewritten into active voice, do so. If not, consider eliminating the sentence entirely. You do need passive voice occasionally, but keep it to the bare minimum.
- Get rid of the cliches. HERE’S a great list by Writer’s Digest of the most commonly used cliches. Do a find-and-replace search to be sure none of these have crept into your story.
Once you get into Edit Mode, you’ll find that it flows right along.