Manuscripts have to be edited. Having a great story is not enough. Delivering it to the reader is what a book is all about. The craft of writing is hard work and writing the original story idea is just the start. Top your creativity off with editing and you will have a polished and publishable manuscript which will turn into the book you intended it to be.
You can pay for editing. There are many people out there who will do this for you. They will come up with suggestions, helpful, good suggestions, based on their experience for you to implement. They do not replace your hard work. They merely focus it to good effect. Development editors guide you with the structure and development of your manuscript – very useful if this is your first book. Copy editors point out the flaws in the finished work and advise how to put them right. Proof editors highlight spelling, grammar and typo errors. None of them replace the hard work you have to put in on your script.
Self editing is by far the best option. You learn as you go, learn faster and more effectively, if you spot your own mistakes and put them right. Your next book will be crafted as you write, as you apply these lessons from the start. And you do not have to pay anyone. Tweedlecoate only offers editing services in exceptional circumstances. We would far rather you used our advice here for free. And, if you wanted to send us the really great book you have produced, we should be very glad to see it.
SELF EDITING IN FIVE EASY STEPS
- Write your story from beginning to end. Don’t stop for more than a week or two at a time or you will lose the creative flow.
Golden Rule: Never, ever, discuss your storyline, plot, characters or setting with anyone else at this stage. Writing is a communication circle from you to your reader and back. If you communicate your ideas verbally, the circle is completed and your creativity may not make it to paper. - Put your script away and leave it for a while. You both need some distance to develop between you.
- Second draft. Print out your script if it is on the computer or put the handwritten sheets on the desk. Type it in as a new document, making alterations as you go. The space you gave yourself in Step 2 will allow you to keep a tight control over your characters, who will have developed minds of their own in Step 1, which is good characterisation on your part but don’t let them push their luck. Be ruthless with cutting and changing, creative with additions. If you find a section boring or inconsistent, so will your reader.
Golden Rule: Fine writing is hard reading. Crafted wording is easy reading.
Draw your narrative arcs on a blank sheet of paper and check that each character and each plot and sub-plot is going where it should. - Share your work with other writers or family members and ask for feedback. Find someone to read it aloud or record yourself reading it, listening for jarring notes, vague plot lines, words occurring too often. Check any facts, particularly any historical or geographical ones. Obtain permission to use quotes if necessary.
- With all amendments made, run a spelling and grammar check. Spelling must be precise and all typos removed. You can take liberties with grammar as long as you know the rules and are doing it deliberately for voice or style and are consistent with your rule breaking. Choose a clear font in 12-point, pay attention to whether your chosen destination asks for single or double spacing (use double as a default if it is not clear) and make sure there are no indents or double spaces on new paragraphs.
Send your beautifully crafted book out to your chosen recipient.
We at Tweedlecoate would love it to be us.