Editing Sucks

Congratulations! You’ve written the first draft of your book. Uncongradulations! No you have to edit it. Most people hate this part of the process, but it’s a necessary evil when it comes to polishing your book baby before sending it to your first round of beta readers. Besides spelling and grammar, some things to think about while editing is checking for plot holes, inconsistencies, insufficient detail or too much detail, and filler/useless words.

Spelling and Grammar

The bane of a writer’s existence. Even the tiniest spelling mistakes can bog a reader down when trying to enjoy a good book. Some spelling and grammar errors are unavoidable like during dialogue, using made up words, or creating a new language. It’s okay to show off your mad skills with made up lingo jingo, but please make sure it makes sense when saying it out loud. Don’t drown your reader in hard confusing words like antidisestablishmentarianism or superfragilisticespialadocis. When checking your manuscript for spelling or grammar, I recommend running an editing program that comes with Google or Word docs. You can get an add on with Google docs that help decrease the errors in your book. I use an add on program with Google Docs called Outright (previously GradProof) and I highly recommend it. Outright scans my writing for grammar and spelling errors, as well as redundant phrases, overused words, and generic words that can be replaced with better ones. Outright provides replacement words with your dead verbs and nouns. I find this helpful because many times I find myself using lackluster verbs or plain Jane nouns.

Checking for Plot Holes

Plot holes can be tricky. You could have this magnificent idea at the beginning of the story when you write your book and then totally change your mind towards the end. Then you have to go back to the beginning and fix it to make it match the ending. Round and round and round the circus wheel of ideas goes. HINT: This is why we outline people; it’s to avoid such breakup problems in the first place. Whenever I see a plot hole in the story or something that I might have changed along the way, I write myself a note and highlight the section that I changed. My notes can pile up pretty quick, so I keep them in a separate word doc and keep them handy while I continue my editing process.

Too much/too little

Writers come in all shapes and sizes. So does their writing. I’m one of those authors that write this way too much and have to wack some dead tree limbs of useless words/phrases and redundant words/phrases. If you have too little, try bulking up your manuscript with more details about the character or setting. What is he/she wearing? What are their facial expressions? Where are they? What is the purpose of the scene? If you still are having trouble figuring out what else to add, take a step back from your partner (laptop) and take a break for a few minutes. You might be surprised what you can come up with when your mind is relaxed and wandering free.

Filler Words and Phrases

This part is where I struggle. I always use filler words and phrases in everyday speech, so naturally I add them to my writing. While not entirely bad, these little pests need to be excommunicated from your manuscript--permanently. Some filler words include like, as, um/ah, that, well, okay, and totally. Some filler phrases might include, I mean, tell me something, you see, and by the way. For a better list of filler words to get rid of check out What Are Filler Words, and How Do You Cut Them?

“The first draft reveals the art; revision reveals the artist.”

― Michael Lee