4 Self-Editing Techniques
Self-editing is extremely valuable to have an amazing book that you’re happy with. Editors are professionals to help you take the book further than you’re able, so don’t rely on them until you’ve done all that you can. You supply the creativity; we ensure it makes sense!
Self-editing can be really hard though. So here are some tips to make it a little easier no matter what stage of self-editing you’re in.
1. Explain It Out Loud
This helps with larger story issues and can be great when planning your novel too. Have you ever had an issue that you needed help working out, so then you go to a friend to ask for their advice, but while you’re explaining it to them, you realize the answer on your own? I do that all the time! This method can be helpful for issues in your book too.
If there’s a problematic concept (like worldbuilding, a character arc, or a twist in the plot) that you’re struggling to work out, explain it out loud to make sense of it. “Okay so, if Tyler was in jail, he couldn’t have killed Laura. So who killed her? No one else would have killed her . . . Wait! Maybe he had an accomplice that helped kill her while he was in jail. Maybe he was in jail during her murder on purpose so he could appear innocent!” Ta-da! Everything makes so much more sense when it’s said out loud!
2. Take a Break
I know you’re probably really excited to finish your first draft and keep riding out this momentum, but you should take a break from that project. Work on a different project. Finish knitting that scarf. Celebrate. Go on vacation. Sleep for three days. Whatever you want. Even work on a different writing project. Just step away from that manuscript for a few weeks so you can come back to it with fresh eyes. This allows you to see what you didn’t before and have a new perspective on issues that require solving.
3. Read Out Loud
After you’ve taken an adequate break and are ready to return to your project, try reading your book aloud. Your brain has a habit of making sense of things that actually don’t. If you read your book in your head, your brain tends to skim over all those weird sentences. Reading it out loud means you have to say all those odd phrasings—and your mouth does not skip things like your brain does. It knows when something is amiss. This helps you catch anything that sounds a little odd.
When editing someone else’s manuscript, I often read the text out loud. This helps me catch double words, funky syntax, or incorrect word usage better than if I’m reading in my head.
4. Use Text to Speech
When you’ve done quite a bit of self-editing, and you think the book is ready to go to professionals, have the computer (or device) read the document to you. This will help you hear even more issues, including odd phrasing and typos. The constant stopping, starting, stopping, starting of the voice over and over again can become tedious, though, so I recommend you do this when you’ve already worked on it for a while, and there are fewer errors to catch.
I hope these tips were able to help you out! If you’re looking for more tips about self-editing, check out this post about specific things to look for when line editing your manuscript! Congratulations on finishing your first draft!