The Busy Writer's Self-Editing Toolbox: The Busy Writer

By M. R. McAlister

Editing a manuscript involves far more than doing a spelling and grammar check and fixing up a sentence here and there that doesn't flow.

You need to know (a) the common mistakes that authors make (so you can avoid them or fix them) and (b) all the things that can affect a reader's opinion of your book.

 

How The Busy Writer's Self-Editing Toolbox Will Help You

In this handy self-editing guide, you will discover:

• How color-coding can give you an instant snapshot of any problems with repetitive phrases, dull dialogue, style and tone, and problems with person or tense
• Common errors made with viewpoint, and how to fix them
• Important understandings about viewpoint
• How to edit and polish dialogue so it sounds natural
• The DOs and DON'Ts of writing dialogue
• How "too much" of anything can ruin your story and alienate your readers
• General tips on building your skills

With The Self-Editing Toolbox at your elbow, you will understand exactly what you need to do so your story moves from being just average to one that wins you a loyal band of readers.

 

If you're a beginner, then The Busy Writer's Self-Editing Toolbox will save you hours of time—and probably quite a few rejections. If you're more experienced, then you can just dip into the Toolbox for whatever you need to help you with those problem areas.

 

Here's what some satisfied users of the Self-Editing Toolbox say about it:

 

"I used this when editing my books… Once you know what to look for and how to fix it, these self-editing techniques make your writing tight and powerful." [D.J. Stutley, author of Operation Foxtrot Five and 4 others in the series.]

 

"The Self-Editing Toolbox really is every writer's essential guide to editing their book to submission standard: easy to follow, yet effective. The color-coding makes it so easy to sort the rough spots from the prose that glows. I still have some polishing to do but my test readers say they can't wait for more chapters as my characters 'live off the page.' I love they're so hooked by a story that I was struggling to finish and feared I couldn't develop to its full potential. I so nearly gave up on this WIP. With The Self-Editing Toolbox you really have taken the hard graft out of writing." [Viv Adams, Romance Writer]

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blue Gem Publishing
• Release date: May 26, 2012
• ISBN: 9798201787967

Book preview

Introduction

Writers have to learn so many things. 

They have to learn how to craft an interesting plot and give birth to vibrant, interesting characters. They need to become adept at handling viewpoint and at blending in description without boring readers. As if that’s not enough, they also have to master the art of writing interesting dialogue… and so it goes on. 

It’s little wonder that by the time writers get to the end of the book, all they want to do is send the story on its way. It’s time to get it into the hands of readers! 

And this is exactly where a great many authors come unstuck. Even if they’ve taken the trouble to get feedback from other writers, or a critique service, it’s essential that they take the time to edit and polish their work. 

But… how do you do this? What are you supposed to look for? If only there were a system of some kind to make it easier! 

Now there is. Better than a system!

Now you have a ‘toolbox’ that you can dip into to find just what you need when you’re fixing up the first (or final) draft of your novel. 

You might not need every tool offered here. You might be a whiz with character creation but need help with dialogue. Maybe it’s POV (point of view) that trips you up. Or perhaps it’s just that the whole tone of the book isn’t quite right, and you’re not sure how to fix it. 

Read through this whole book first, just to get a sense of what it’s all about. You’ll find that now and then, something will jump out at you (Yes! THAT’S what I have trouble with…), and you’ll be able to approach your novel with a new understanding of how to fix whatever is wrong. 

Editing your work is never easy (if you knew what was wrong, you wouldn’t have made a mistake in the first place!) Sometimes, however, all you need is for someone to say: Here’s an example of what could go wrong. If you see this in your work, here’s how to fix it. 

That’s why this Self-Editing Toolbox was created: to help you fix it. So let’s make a start!

1

Color-Code Your Writing

No matter how many articles you read on editing your work, sometimes it just doesn't sink in. Sure, you know you should be varying your sentence structure more—but somehow, that repetitive sentence structure slips by you, and you don't notice until someone else points it out to you. And speaking of repetition—there's that annoying little phrase that you tend to overuse without meaning to. And what about effective dialogue? That's not easy! 

How do you pick up on this stuff if you don't have someone else to