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Home » Editing » Page 4

Editing

The Writer as Editor: More Tools to Use

By Karen Ballon February 13, 2013
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Adding the finishing touches to his hairstyleAdding the finishing touches to his hairstyle

There are some great quotes out there about editors and editing. For example:

“Read your own compositions, and when you meet a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out.” Samuel Johnson

“What I have crossed out, I didn’t like. What I haven’t crossed out, I’m dissatisfied with.” Cecil B. DeMille

“From now on, ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I shall not put.” Winston Churchill

“I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.” Shannon Hale

And my favorite:

“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.” Dr. Seuss

SO, how to edit your own writing? Well, we already talked about three helpful tools in my post last week. Now, let’s take a look at three more:

1. Pull The Threads. How often have you finished a book and realized you’re not sure that a character’s story/faith/emotional arcs are all you want them to be? Here’s a great way to check that out: Copy and past that character’s scenes into a document, then read them beginning to end. When you read just those scenes, you’ll have a clear idea of whether or not you’ve accomplished what you wanted. What’s more, you’ll be able to pinpoint where to make any changes or revisions.

2. Use Your Ears! When we write, we see the story unfold in our heads, playing out on the screen of our minds. But once the story is on the page, and once you’ve had a little time away from it, it’s time to get outside your head and…listen. Listen to your story. Close your eyes, and just…listen. Whether you have someone read the book to you, utilize one of the many text-to-speech programs available, or read it out loud yourself (in which case, don’t close your eyes!), hearing your story can help you catch an amazing number of issues. It’s well known among editors, copyeditors, and proofreaders that the eye reads what it expects to read on the page. Which makes it easy to miss when words are misspelled or misused. But hearing your story, or reading it aloud yourself, helps you catch such things as:

  • Missing words
  • Wrong words (e.g., you rather than your; through rather than though)
  • Pacing issues
  • Dialogue issues
  • Confusing sentences
  • Spell-check missteps (years ago I was editing a manuscript on comparative religions, and spell-check changed every Mormon and Mormonism to moron and moronism)
  • Narrative and character voice

3. Tighten Up! When you’re editing it’s the perfect time to remember that old adage, “Less is more.” Unless you’re writing about a character who uses ten words when five will do, use the editing process to tighten your prose. Some things to watch for:

Superlatives. They’re there, hiding in your manuscript. And you need to blast ‘em into extinction: very, extremely, super, really, just, and so on. So make your writing super tight with the extremely easy step of just cutting out all those really useless superlatives.

Empty phrases. A few to watch for: started to, in order to, began to, prepared to. Not He grabbed her pen in order to stop her from adding another superlative but He grabbed her pen to stop her from adding another superlative. Not She started to write but She wrote.

That. You’d be amazed how many thats creep into our writing. Most can be eliminated (e.g., not She told him that he was too wordy but She told him he was too wordy)

–ly Adverbs. More often than not, these are weak writing. See if you can replace them. (e.g., not He walked quickly to cash his royalty check but He hurried to cash his royalty check; not She hummed happily as she edited but just She hummed as she edited, since not many folks hum unless they’re happy.

Ups and Downs. Not The writer stood up at his signing, but The writer stood at his signing. Remember, unless you’re in the military, you don’t stand down. Not The editor sat down to work but The editor sat to work.

Speaker Attributions. Only use ‘em when you need ‘em for clarity. And when you need to use them, go with he said/she said. Those tend to be invisible to the reader’s eye.

Redundant Expressions. Watch for expressions where you can drop one or two of the words and the meaning of the expression doesn’t change (e.g., not Commute back and forth to the library, but Commute to the library.)

Okay, let’s close today’s blog as we opened it, with a quote or two about editing:

 “Will you tell me my fault, frankly as to yourself, for I had rather wince, than die. Men do not call the surgeon to commend the bone, but to set it, Sir.” Emily Dickinson

 “It is with words as with sunbeams—the more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.” Robert Southey

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Category: Editing, Karen, Writing CraftTag: Editing, Editor, Writer

Editing 101 – My Turn

By Karen Ballon January 23, 2013
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Thanks for all the great comments and conversation on what needed to be edited in the text I posted in my last blog (Editing 101 - Y0ur Turn). You all made some great observations!

Below you’ll find the edited text. I tried doing it in Track Changes, which is what I usually use to edit a manuscript, but the blog server didn’t like that much. So I’ve made the edits red (think the dreaded red …

Read moreEditing 101 – My Turn
Category: Craft, Editing, Karen, Writing CraftTag: Editing, Writing Craft

Today is a Great Day to (re)Write

By Steve Laubeon January 14, 2013
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by Steve Laube

James Michener, the bestselling novelist, once said, “I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter.” And today is your day to follow suit.

No one knows your work or what you are trying to accomplish better than you. In that sense you can be your own best editor.

In a 1958 interview with The Paris Review Ernest Hemingway was asked,
“How much rewriting do you …

Read moreToday is a Great Day to (re)Write
Category: Craft, Editing, Steve, Writing CraftTag: Editing, Writing Craft

Editing 101 – Your Turn

By Karen Ballon January 9, 2013
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I’ve had a number of writers ask me if I can show an edited page from a manuscript, so they can learn from it. So that seems a fun way to start out the New Year. But what I want to do is let YOU take a turn as an editor first. So here, for your editing pleasure, is something I wrote just for this occasion. Print this out, put on your editing hat, and go for it. I’ll post the edited text next week, …

Read moreEditing 101 – Your Turn
Category: Craft, Editing, Grammar, Karen, Writing CraftTag: Editing, Writing Craft

News You Can Use – May 29, 2012

By Steve Laubeon May 29, 2012
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Self-Publishing: Under 10% Earn a Living - An article out of Australia makes a bold claim. I would claim, however, that only 10% of traditionally published writers earn a living too. Of course that depends on your definition of "a living."

100 Best First Lines from Novels - In honor of the last two weeks where we talked about "first lines" I found this article from the American Book Review that …

Read moreNews You Can Use – May 29, 2012
Category: Craft, Grammar, Marketing, News You Can Use, SteveTag: commas, copyediting, Editing, Grammar, podcasting, Self-Publishing

News You Can Use – May 15, 2012

By Steve Laubeon May 15, 2012
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J.A. Konrath Responds - [Warning: There is some coarse language in the post.] Konrath's response to my blog post from yesterday.

Vetting a Freelance Editor - Victoria Strauss writes an incredible article on how to pick the best independent editor for your project.

Icons that Make No Sense to the New Generation of Readers - A tremendous article about words that could "date" your writing if …

Read moreNews You Can Use – May 15, 2012
Category: Get PublishedTag: Editing, Rights Reversion, Twitter

Fun Fridays – April 20, 2012

By Steve Laubeon April 20, 2012
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An appropriate caption for this cartoon could be "What every author wishes they could say to an editor."

Read moreFun Fridays – April 20, 2012
Category: Fun FridaysTag: Editing, Humor

Are We Speaking the Same Language?

By Steve Laubeon March 21, 2012
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by Karen Ball

I love languages. I started studying French in the 7th grade (“Bonjour, Monsieur DuPree. Comment-allez vous?), and by the time I had my double college degree in multiple-languages and journalism, I’d studied French (12 years), Spanish (5 years), and Russian (1 year). But I confess, I never expected to have to learn a new language when I entered the publishing …

Read moreAre We Speaking the Same Language?
Category: Book Business, Career, Communication, KarenTag: Career, Communication, Editing, Language

It’s A Brave New World

By Karen Ballon March 14, 2012
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I’ve been in publishing for lo, these many years (over 30), so you’d think the work would be pretty much second nature for me. No so! In fact, just this last week I did something completely new!

I edited a book, in four days, using Skype and Dropbox.

The amazing thing about this isn’t that the author and I got the book done so quickly, but that it was SO MUCH FUN! We parked on Skype for …

Read moreIt’s A Brave New World
Category: Book Business, Get Published, Karen, TrendsTag: dropbox, Editing, skype, Technology, Trends, Writing Craft
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