Learn To Edit Your Own Stories and Other Author Resources

[C J]

I shared a link to a website with some authors who thought it was a good resource, so I'm sharing it here for everyone to benefit from -

 

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2013/08/21/six-easy-tips-for-self-editing-your-fiction/

 

Of course, if the link isn't live you can copy and paste it into your address bar, or if you use firefox just highlight it then right click and choose open link, open in new tab or open in new private window.

 

I may add new resources when I find ones that are useful, and anyone else who has something useful to share can add it here.  This way, writers can build new skills and become more independent, which will eliminate some of the frustrations you deal with now and then and ultimately make your readers happier.

 

Hopefully, this will become a true asset to the GA authors community.

[Thorn Wilde]

This is a really great resource. Learning how to self-edit is an important part of the writer's craft, and makes the job of an editor much easier as well, so they can take on more authors, which is something that's very much needed here on GA at the moment. 

[joann414]

I agree with Thorn   Thanks for sharing, Chris!

[Enoch]

Chris is always sharing helpful ideas and information. More people should listen to this wise young man. I do more and more everyday.

[Cia]

I think those are all excellent tips for things to look for while self-editing that go beyond punctuation and typos. Here are a few tips to help you identify those elements more effectively while you do a self-edit.

 

1. Try a new medium. Put your story on a reader device and use notes, or print it out and mark up your chapter by hand.

2. Read it aloud. This is most important to create realistic dialogue that flows as it should with the proper emotion and breaks.

3. Start backwards, paragraph by paragraph, during your final line edit to focus on the words--not the story.

[joann414]

I think those are all excellent tips for things to look for while self-editing that go beyond punctuation and typos. I think there are a few tips to help you identify those elements more effectively while you do a self-edit.

 

1. Try a new medium. Put your story on a reader device and use notes, or print it out and mark up your chapter by hand.

2. Read it aloud. This is most important to create realistic dialogue that flows as it should with the proper emotion and breaks.

3. Start backwards, paragraph by paragraph, during your final line edit to focus on the words--not the story.

I've done the first two things Cia, but haven't thought about reading backwards to catch wording.  Great idea.  I always find some word or words after I publish sometimes that even my editors misses.  It may be small, but it seems to jump out at me after I've put my work public:(

[sat8997]

 

3. Start backwards, paragraph by paragraph, during your final line edit to focus on the words--not the story.

 

This is the one that I usually suggest. It breaks the story's hold on your interest allowing you to catch errors that your eyes would normally skim over.

[Thorn Wilde]

I always read my stories out loud. Sometimes I even record it and play it back to myself. 

[The Pecman]

Excellent comments from Cia above. Though I have to say, I like to bounce ideas off people, and having another person as an editor helps contributes new ideas to the story, especially if they question a choice I've made or suggest, "hey, what if the character does such-and-such" at a key point in the story. The other valuable thing is that they may point out something I've never even thought of before.

 

I had a case some years back where I wrote a novel where in one scene, the murderer killed a pet dog. All my friends who were reading the chapters in advance hit the roof with me and demanded that I not kill the dog, so I reluctantly had the dog live. I didn't know about the "Save the Cat" rule where you have to be careful about alienating your readers with stuff like this, so if I'd been left to my own devices, I would've gone right off the cliff. In this case, it all resulted in a reasonable payoff with the ending, so it worked out very well.

 

I also agree with Cia's idea that even if you write on a monitor (as 99% of us do), I think it's a good idea to print it out and edit it on real, physical, "analogue" paper. Number one, it's an emergency backup when the EMP hits and all our devices are temporarily blown out, and number two, seeing your text on paper gives you a different feel about how each paragraph relates to each other. I think this is a very valuable thing that you don't have with a computer monitor.

 

BTW, anybody see the story the other day about how George R.R. Martin writes Game of Thrones on an old DOS machine running WordStar 4.0 (circa 1988)? His excuse is, this way he can't run off and get on the web and be subjected to distractions. It's just cold DOS text on a monochrome monitor. Clearly, this approach works for him. 

[Irritable1]

 

 

BTW, anybody see the story the other day about how George R.R. Martin writes Game of Thrones on an old DOS machine running WordStar 4.0 (circa 1988)? His excuse is, this way he can't run off and get on the web and be subjected to distractions. It's just cold DOS text on a monochrome monitor.

 

Well, that explains a lot 

 

Just popped in here to make a pitch for The Elements of Style, if any author does not already have a copy.  It's in very wide circulation in the US--not sure about overseas--so it's possible to pick up a second-hand copy for a couple of bucks.  It's cheap and a quick read.  If an author can succeed in internalizing most of its messages, that should pretty much weed out 90% of minor problems.

[Thorn Wilde]

Excellent comments from Cia above. Though I have to say, I like to bounce ideas off people, and having another person as an editor helps contributes new ideas to the story, especially if they question a choice I've made or suggest, "hey, what if the character does such-and-such" at a key point in the story. The other valuable thing is that they may point out something I've never even thought of before.

 

This isn't really about not using editors at all; it's about making your story as good as you possibly can on your own. Like Louis tends to say, never send an editor your first draft. Sadly, a lot of people don't really follow this advice, because they simply don't know what to look for when editing their own work. Self-editing serves both to make the job easier for an editor, and to help the author improve their own craft, so really everybody wins. Another thing that happens when you send a very unfinished work to an editor is that the narrative ends up being in the style the editor would write, not the style the author themselves would write if only they knew how. This is perhaps more of a danger if the editor is also a writer; I know that when I'm editing a work where I have to fix every other sentence, it ends up looking, stylistically, like something I would write.

Edited May 15, 2014 by Thorn Wilde

[C J]

Here's another link to some useful writing tips.  I imagine most people know who Ernest Hemingway is.     Get some good ideas from someone who knows a thing or two!

 

http://www.openculture.com/2013/02/seven_tips_from_ernest_hemingway_on_how_to_write_fiction.html

[C J]

Here's another site you might find useful.  I take these as places that offer ideas more than places that give concrete rules.  Writing fiction has no rules really, and that's important to remember. 

 

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/

[C J]

Since I don't believe we can ever know enough, here's another link to help those who want to keep improving their abilities.  Where writing is concerned there really aren't any "experts" or "masters", but there are, of course, writers with advanced skills.  They get those skills because they keep learning.  I hope this offering helps you learn a little more, too.

 

http://menwithpens.ca/7-writing-tips-pros/

[Irritable1]

Just bought a copy of:

 

The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation: An Easy-to-Use Guide with Clear Rules, Real-World Examples, and Reproducible Quizzes [Kindle Edition]

Jane Straus (Author), Lester Kaufman (Author), Tom Stern (Author)

 

as I can't take my fat CMoS with me when traveling.

[Ron]

as I can't take my fat CMoS with me when traveling.

Yes, it's dense and can put you over your weight limit. Of course another option is to buy the online subscription.

[Irritable1]

Yes, it's dense and can put you over your weight limit. Of course another option is to buy the online subscription.

 

 Oh jeez, I didn't even think of that, I was just looking for a Kindle edition. Never mind, I want a break from it anyway... I'm tired of slogging past discussions of "et al." usage to get to what I need 

 

Here's the Chicago Manual of Style link for those who think they may find it useful: 

 

http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/subscription_opts.html

 

The manual is in wide professional use in the US, and covers a huge range of contingencies. Very useful to writers who work in a variety of fields.

Edited June 13, 2014 by Irritable1

[Persinette]

Well, that explains a lot 

 

Just popped in here to make a pitch for The Elements of Style, if any author does not already have a copy.  It's in very wide circulation in the US--not sure about overseas--so it's possible to pick up a second-hand copy for a couple of bucks.  It's cheap and a quick read.  If an author can succeed in internalizing most of its messages, that should pretty much weed out 90% of minor problems.

 

There are some very valid disgreements with it as a text, though - which may result in new writers (who lack the experience to tell) receiving bad advice. There's a fascinating article about it (written by a linguist) here.

[Irritable1]

Oh, the Pullum article? Honestly, I don't put much stock in his opinion even over the grammar issue, which hasn't been an issue for me. But ok, to be on the safe side, I'll say that Elements of Style should not be used as a definitive resource for grammar (that's what I'm auditioning the Blue Book for).

 

For style issues, Elements of Style is unmatched as a quick reference guide that will help you eliminate common redundancies and errors.

 

Update: Geoffrey Pullum has published a linguistically-informed college-level grammar guide, which is well-reviewed, and based on a more scholarly work that is considered extremely good, the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language.  It's here. Another recommended guide is Bryan Garner's Modern American Usage, which is here. I'm probably going to try to start reading them both later this year.

Edited June 13, 2014 by Irritable1

[Persinette]

Oh, the Pullum article? Honestly, I don't put much stock in his opinion even over the grammar issue, which hasn't been an issue for me. But ok, to be on the safe side, I'll say that Elements of Style should not be used as a definitive resource for grammar (that's what I'm auditioning the Blue Book for).

 

For style issues, Elements of Style is unmatched as a quick reference guide that will help you eliminate common redundancies and errors.

 

I'm just iffy about recommending a book which gives inaccurate advice - especially to new writers, who have very little basis for knowing better. If only 20% of the M&Ms in the bowl are poisoned, you don't advise someone to take a big ol' handful, y'know? And Monsieurs Strunk & White give an awful lot of terrible style advice (assuming, of course, that like me, you include 'avoid the passive voice' as a style proclamation).

 

Forgive me, but I honestly give his opinion more stock than a text which breaks its own rules as it declares them.

[Zombie]

I had a case some years back where I wrote a novel where in one scene, the murderer killed a pet dog. All my friends who were reading the chapters in advance hit the roof with me and demanded that I not kill the dog, so I reluctantly had the dog live. I didn't know about the "Save the Cat" rule where you have to be careful about alienating your readers with stuff like this

 

Yes, someone really should have warned Mark Haddon about that

 

[Valkyrie]

I saw this on Facebook right after I read the last entry.  lol

 

[Guest]

These tips/links are great, thanks for sharing.

[Drak]

I like this thread. Good suggestions, all.

 

The single most difficult task for a writer, I think, is to step outside one's bones and read the story, not as one's self, but as a complete stranger would read it. That requires agility of the mind.

[Former Member]

I think those are all excellent tips for things to look for while self-editing that go beyond punctuation and typos. Here are a few tips to help you identify those elements more effectively while you do a self-edit.

 

1. Try a new medium. Put your story on a reader device and use notes, or print it out and mark up your chapter by hand.

2. Read it aloud. This is most important to create realistic dialogue that flows as it should with the proper emotion and breaks.

3. Start backwards, paragraph by paragraph, during your final line edit to focus on the words--not the story.

Wow, these are all good. On 1, just changing to a serifed helps me see a lot of things I might otherwise miss. 

 

Reading the dialogue is super important, and I always do the backwards edit too after the initial read for content edits. 

 

All great points!