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Congratulations, you've completed a manuscript! Now, it's time to edit
The editing process involves several steps, and it's a lot more than just fixing grammar and spelling
If you're looking for practical advice about editing your own work, you've come to the right place
Today, we're providing you with 10 great tips for self-editing for fiction writers, so you can take your
Notice any consistency issues, and try to see what your biggest weaknesses are
You might accidentally change something in your first read-through that affects something else further along in the
Once you've read your entire manuscript, I always suggest letting it simmer for a few days
This gives you time to think through any major plot issues or character problems before you dive
But it's best to avoid small mistakes at first for a few reasons
Second, you might edit a grammar error or change a word in a sentence that gets rewritten
Then you've done unnecessary editing and created more work for yourself
As a fiction writer, I always describe the editing process as a funnel: start big, then get
Self-editing specifically for major weaknesses can help you focus on improving those areas
Whatever your weakness is, you've probably made many of the same mistakes throughout your story
You'll be surprised by how much cleaner your manuscript is after fixing it
If you have two major things that you struggle with, do a second deep edit for the
You'll get some of the best writing advice from other writers who are familiar with your writing
As fiction writers, we get excited about the world building and backstory we've spent so much time
Info-dumps are long paragraphs where you tell the reader lots of information
This might be an overly long description of a setting or magic system, some bit of history
Ask yourself if the details are actually pertinent to the story, and be honest with yourself!
Some exposition is necessary, and different genres have different standards for info-dumping
Fantasy and sci-fi, for example, commonly have longer-winded descriptions and explanations
But, when you can, include some of those details in between action
Copy and paste them into another document, a world building app, or a book bible
We want readers to experience our stories, and we do that through using strong descriptions of the
Try to include at least three of the five senses in every scene
For example, instead of saying "said quietly," say "murmur" or "whisper
You can get help self-editing for sensory detail and distancing language with ProWritingAid's Sensory Report
It's important to pay close attention to dialogue when you self-edit
Bad dialogue is a quick way to pull readers out of your story
But what is bad dialogue? Dialogue that sounds unnatural is one of the most common mistakes writers
Including too many dialect terms or accented pronunciations is another way that dialogue can sound weak
You shouldn’t have a character give a long-winded explanation to another character without breaking the dialogue
Speaking of dialogue tags (phrases like "he said, she yelled, etc
Some people say to avoid any dialogue tags that aren’t "say" or "said," because other words
Instead of saying a character "said (something) sadly," you can say they "buried their head in their
Just run the Dialogue Report! You'll find how many dialogue tags are in your writing, along with
This will help you find weak spots to add action beats and power verbs
Repeated sentence starts is another common mistake that creeps up on writers
Repeated sentence starts are especially common in action-packed scenes when you describe what your characters are doing
When you're self-editing, try not to have more than two repeated sentence starts in a row
Then, change up your syntax to improve the flow of your writing
Grammar, spelling, and mechanical errors are normally fixed during the proofreading stage, but you can still work
Here's why you want to wait until you've edited everything else
If you edit for spelling and grammar during the earlier editing phases, you are likely proofreading things
You're also paying closer attention to mechanics than bigger issues that need to be fixed
Additionally, you’ve probably edited in grammar errors as you've added and changed sentences
But ProWritingAid has reports that help with most of these self-editing steps
The Pacing Report helps point out paragraphs with slow pacing
And there are several other reports that will help with the self-editing process
But rather than running each report independently, you can create your own Combo Report
Then from the main editor all you have to do is click "Combo
Every time I edit one of my novels, I'm surprised by how many mistakes that my editor,
It's normal to overlook things when you spend so much time staring at the same story
I have found at least one mistake in every book I've ever read
You can either read it to yourself or have a computer program read it to you
You'll also notice small inconsistencies, such as a character's eye color changing or a setting description that
Grab a large cup of water if you're reading it yourself (reading an entire book out loud
Give yourself plenty of time before your publication date to improve your manuscript
Writing a novel is hard work, but it isn't over when you finish the first draft
Sign up today to use the Sensory Report, Dialogue Report, and more