How to Edit Your Work

The ability to edit your own work is incredibly important. For obvious reasons, editors prefer authors who can turn in clean copy. Beyond lightening an editor's workload, there are other reasons that you need to be good at editing--it's your name on the book!

Over the years I've picked up great ideas for editing. Here's the best summary of what you should be doing--

Edit your work in passes.

 In other words, don't go over it once and consider it done. Read it several times, for several different reasons. Read it first for pacing and continuity. Read it again for logic. Finally read it to proofread for grammar, spelling, etc.

Let's break that down:

1. Read it for pacing and continuity. Does it drag? Does every scene contribute and move the plot along? If you delete a scene does it matter? (If the answer is, "No," then the scene is going to drag the plot down.) Can you up the tension in the scene? Can you use a chapter break to create a mini-cliffhanger? Are the characters consistent in their behavior?

2. Read it for logic. Are the sequences of the sentences appropriate? Do they build on each other? Do they happen in a logical order? Are there any questions left unanswered? Does your premise and the premise of your characters make sense? Do you maintain an internal logic? And finally, if someone walks into a room, where do they go? What happens to them? Did you maintain a logic to their arrival and departure?

3. Read it for grammatical errors, spelling errors, and consistency of style.

It takes forever to edit a book this way. Unfortunately, a poorly edited book is a book that won't be enjoyed by your reader, so make the time!

What to Do When You Get Stuck While Writing Your Book

By Joanna Campbell Slan


When folks complain of "writer's block," they're often complaining that they've gotten stuck. Or that they just don't know what to write next.

That can happen to any of us.

Maybe you know how your book will begin. You might also know how it ends. But what will you do to fill three hundred pages in the middle? Ah, that's the rub. Suddenly, you are stuck.

When I get stuck, here are some ways I get "un-stuck" --

Change It Up--

1. Change of scenery -- I revisit my protagonist's world and move her/him to another spot. I find this useful for signaling a plot point or a change of heart.
2. Change of mind -- Most of us don't move smoothly from Point A to Point B. We zig and zag. We have conflicting emotions. Sometimes we encounter new information. Or we mull over a problem and reconsider what we know. Someone will tell us something we didn't know. A change of mind gives your protagonist a new course to explore.
3. Change of cast -- You have to be careful not to introduce people willy-nilly, but once in a while, you need someone new to enter the fray. This newbie can tell your protagonist something he or she doesn't know.

Doing What Comes Naturally--

I've found that blocks come when I try to force my characters to twist into unnatural positions. If the action springs naturally, if the sequence is logical, it's easier to write about it.

Brainstorm Twenty Ways to Proceed--

My friend and mentor Emilie Richards told me that a friend of hers suggested brainstorming a list of twenty things that could happen. Your first five will be predictable. The next five a little less so. The next five might be outlandish. But the final five will really tax your brain. Stretching is good exercise. One of your twenty ways to proceed will probably work. Maybe even two or three of them will. Choose the option that's right for your book.

Check on a Secondary Character--

Remember the phrase, "Meanwhile, back at the ranch"? That's a nifty segue, a change to revisit a secondary character, and peek in on what he/she's doing.

Whatever You Do--

Don't give up. It's far too easy to toss your work-in-progress into the trash and start over. The process of working through your stumbling blocks is valuable. Quitting isn't!

How do you handle getting stuck?

How Anyone Can Improve His or Her Writing Almost Instantly

By Joanna Campbell Slan

School has started, and your child may be one of many who struggles with written assignments. Or perhaps you, yourself, are going back to school. Or maybe now that your kids are off to classes, you've decided to get down to the business of writing that book you've been meaning to tackle for years.

I've been writing my whole life. In fact, I can't remember a time when I wasn't putting words on paper. I've also taught writing to adults, both college students and professionals. There's one tip I can share that will dramatically improve your writing--anyone's writing--instantly.When I tell people this simple tip, they usually scoff. What a shame, because it's so simple and so incredibly effective:

Read the work out loud.

Do NOT mumble the words. Don't simply move your lips. Actually read it, as if presenting it to an audience. In fact, if you can find another person to listen, so much the better.

As you read, you'll hear glitches in your work. You'll catch the rough spots. You'll notice where phrasing is awkward or where the transition needs help. Mostly, you'll notice words you left out or misused, but duplicated words will also jump out at you.

If you find yourself pausing to "explain" what you wrote, that's a huge red flag.

Now, I know what you're thinking: Huh. Right. Maybe I will and maybe I won't.

But trust me on this, it's the BEST tip I've ever gotten, and it'll improve your work dramatically.

When I was writing Paper, Scissors, Death, I must have read the car chase scene to my son six times. I never made it through to the end. Not the first five times. I'd start reading and realize how wrong my phrasing sounded. Or how lame. Or whatever. So I'd say, "Never mind! Go back to your computer games!" and walk off, back to my own computer, to start over.

You'll probably do the same with your work. But when you finish revising, you'll have a much, much better piece of writing. Trust me on this.

Things That'll Keep You Unpublished

Probably the LAST thing I should be doing with my time today is writing a blog post. Nevertheless, I am compelled to share what I'm learning.

See, I'm judging a contest for writers, new and hopeful authors. There's a wonderful set of criteria which guides me. Very helpful. Very insightful. But mainly, I'm calling upon what I've learned over the past five years.

And I'm using up far too much time doing this...except...except...it comes at an important juncture in my own career. I have two novels under my belt, and my third has been accepted but for the final edits. So reading these submissions, I can certainly see how my own skills have improved.

Here's what I'm seeing in these entries, problems that I believe will keep the books from seeing publication unless they are corrected:

1. Lack of specificity. Instead of having your protagonist say, "I went to college with her," tell me which college. MIT is very different from University of Illinois. A tiny specific tells the reader LOTS about your protagonist.

2. Simple grammatical mistakes. Common on, people. Learn to use a comma. All right, I still have trouble with "that" versus "which," but I keep looking up the difference and trying to get it right. And it's a subtle difference, one that may even go the way of "who" versus "whom," because proper usage almost becomes, uh, snotty. BUT...the major rules for comma usage are golden. Check this out, if you are unclear: http://www.eslbee.com/sentences.htm

3. Tighten up. I'm going to wear out my strike-through function. Here's an example of a sentence that needs to go on a diet: "I thought the words to myself." Uh, we only think to ourselves unless we are suffering from multiple personality disorder. Here's another: "Unexpectedly, I threw up my hands because I was startled by the surprise." ARRRGHHH. (I can't even start to fix that one!)

4. Delete the word "was" and write cleaner, clearer sentences. "I was tired, lonely from the long drive, and feeling sleepy as I pulled into town." How about "Tired, lonely, and sleepy from the 13-hour drive, I pulled into town." What I'm discovering is a real need for people to improve their technical ability, their basic repertoire of sentence structures. (Yes, "was" can be used perfectly. When you want to show that the subject was acted upon, then "was" does a brilliant job.)

5. Simple spelling and usage errors. I just looked up the spelling of "repertoire." That's part of my job. I always look up "lay" and "lie" because they are confusing. That's also part of the job. See, it's not just about writing--it's about knowing what my faults are as a writer and working to improve.

Okay, back to the judging.

PS I've re-read this and corrected it twice since originally writing it. That's another problem with beginning writers: They think their job is done once they have a first draft. (Sad to say, I'll probably find other corrections to make once this goes up. Still, the point is that you can't knock it out fast and walk away!)