As an indie author, you have to be able to self-edit. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Now I wasn’t good at self-editing initially, and I’m continuing to improve, but self-editing is a worthwhile skill upon which to learn and improve.
The ability to self-edit, or notice your writing quirks, and quickly improve those quirks will allow you to save money when it comes to hiring a professional editor.
For instance, one of my writing quirks is I typically rush through scenes. So I know during my first edits, the writing is going to be rushed, so I need to fill out scenes during subsequent edits.
This is just my writing quirk, and we all have them! You know yours too, even though you may not want to admit it. Lol.
However, the major key to improving your self-editing skills is to figure out your writing quirks so you can catch them and improve them before they get to an editor.
In today’s#TipTuesday, I’m going to highlight a few #BossWriter self-editing tips. These tips will help you make your writing stronger, so when it’s time to give your work to an editor, your editor will be proud.
Read your work backwards.
This tip is odd, but it has helped me to capture words I’ve typed twice from typing too fast or misspellings that I may have overlooked because the work is so familiar to me. This tip is weird, but it works!
Try reading your work in a different format.
I like to type my first drafts on the computer out and print my work (after multiple edits on the computer screen) to edit it as a hard copy. This small change in formatting allows me to capture more mistakes. When you print off your work, play around with the fonts or line spacing. This simple change will allow you to pick up more mistakes from your work.
Rest your work and read aloud.
Sometimes your editing efforts can be more effective if you let your work breathe. Give you and your work a break. Re-visit the text after a day or two. When you return, the work will seem fresher, and in the meantime, your subconscious will have been working out some of those editing kinks for you.
Also when you come back to the work, read it out loud. This allows you to hear your work out and capture phrasing issues a lot easier.
Not to mention, you will get an ego boost when you read a particularly, great sentence, that you wrote, aloud.
Yup, give yourself a pat on the back, you wrote that awesome sentence!
Now of course, these editing tips are just suggestions. They may work for you, and they may not, and that’s ok. As you continue to write, you’ll pick up more self-editing tips. And any self- editing tips that work for you will help you save money and time in the long run. You’ll also be able to get new fans quicker!
Now get to self-editing!
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#BossWriter-In-Chief
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