I stumbled across these editing tips by Tracey Neithercott a while back and thought they were excellent. Then I reminded myself to write down the name of the blog so I could share it and not be plagiarizing anything.
This is some great advice. Editing can be such a struggle for me. Oh I’m good at recognizing problems with the plot and figuring out which words I just use too much. But there’s so much more to do to make my books readable, let alone publishable.
I really loved the bit about highlighting verbs and circling metaphors. I think there would be quite a large amount of yellow in my book : ). Also smart is the suggestion to read the book through for every—repeat, every—character. Thinking of each one as a main character (albeit one who doesn’t need every moment told) will help develop them and the story. If you can’t create someone who is a character and not a plot device, then out they go.
Any self-editing tips you want to add? What do you do in order to develop each character?
Ooh, I love these tips! Thanks for sharing. I love the one about highlighting verbs. I'd add trying to circle/highlight adverbs and unnecessary telling to the list. :)
ReplyDeleteThe book I'm working on now has three main characters. I printed out the whole thing and put the chapters together according to characters. A bit of work, but at least I was sure of continuity and plot points all sorted out by reading each character's story as a separate entity.
ReplyDeleteGreat tips! I have lists for my characters with their own individual plot lines. Bubble maps how they connect to others in the story.
ReplyDeleteI also do a "that" find. I'm notorious for using too many.