Tag: self-edit

Blog posts with this tag are identified by writer Cortni Merritt as related to self-editing as part of the publishing process.

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What Does Book Proofreading Include?

Hand holding red pen for book proofreading with typewriter in the background.

What Does Book Proofreading Include?

While many people mistakenly believe all stages of book editing are the same as book “proofreading,” there is most definitely a difference. 

Not sure if your manuscript is ready for a proofread? Asking yourself, “How do I find someone to proofread my book?” Read on for answers!

Traditional Publishing Sets the Standard for Book Proofreading

In traditional publishing, most stages of book editing are done in a word-processing program. As you might suspect, Microsoft Word is the industry standard for document editing. Even if you write your manuscript in Google Docs, Apple Pages, or another word processor with some text enhancement features, expect your editor to convert your manuscript into a Word document to access the fullest range and best editing features available on the market. 

Don’t worry too much about formatting and layout in this software. There are a few things that should be done to make the overall editing process smoother, but don’t get stressed out about making your Word document look like your vision for the final product. For all its wonderful aspects, MS Word is not the best program for finalizing your book manuscript. 

Once all the stages of book editing are complete – which, in traditional publishing, is typically four rounds of edits (developmental, content, line, and copy editing) – a designer at the publisher will use software like Adobe InDesign to convert your manuscript into a “galley proof.” 

This is when your document begins to “look like” a book! The designer prepares your manuscript by adding things like the correct spacing between lines, drop caps at the beginnings of chapters, fancy or final fonts, images with captions, page numbers, headers and footers with your name, the chapter title or book title, and other design elements. At this point, you’ll no longer be working with an MS Word document; your galley proof will have been converted into a PDF file. 

Now, because all these formatting and design elements have been added to the galley proof, it is more difficult to edit and make large-scale changes to it. PDFs are more complex files that hold more information, and making changes to them can require more steps. Once your galley proof has been designed, you are truly ready for book proofreading.

So What Is Involved in Book “Proofreading”?

Different steps in the stages of book editing focus on different concerns. True book proofreading involves a very light touch, where the proofreader focuses on correcting only “true errors.” Your proofreader will review your galley proof PDF and mark up or make specific changes to typos, spacing errors, and style elements. For example, your proofreader might correct capitalization or apply or remove italics where appropriate. Hopefully, your editor has caught most of these, but sometimes during the process of converting your file from a Word document to a PDF, elements get missed or mistakes happen.

Keep in mind, your proofreader is not reading for ideas or content. They are not fact-checking or confirming spellings of names of public figures or other Google-able information. They are not going to give you feedback on character development or plot holes. They, honestly, are not really paying attention to the same things your editor should have paid attention to. They are focused on finding those true errors that your editor may have missed or that could have even been introduced at some point during the editing or file conversion process. They are focused on checking the consistency of design elements and making sure everything “looks right” in addition to the text being as error-free as possible.

Why Is Book Proofreading Important?

Your proofreader is the last set of eyes to go through your manuscript before it goes to the printer. Hopefully, your proofreader finds an error only about once every 1,000 words (or even less often!). By the time the PDF gets to them, it should be mostly clean and polished. Mostly finalized. So close to done that it only needs one more read-through, and that read should catch so few errors that it takes only a few minutes to finalize once they return it to the graphic designer. Then, your approved galley proof goes off to the printer!  

It’s important to understand this process because when you ask someone “Can you proofread my book?,” you’re asking them to pay attention to the smallest details, not the big-picture issues, and you’re trusting them to have a razor-sharp eye to prevent even the smallest error from making its way into the published version. 

Of course, people make mistakes! No one is perfect. And having multiple professionals involved in the various stages of book editing helps to catch as many errors and address as many concerns as possible. Even traditionally published books that have gone through so many rounds of editing and proofreading might still contain errors when they are released to the market. So give a little grace and have a little patience. Proofreaders are doing their best to help make your book as perfect as it can be, but they might miss one or two things if your book is particularly long or dense, or if on a tight deadline.

What Should I Be Aware of When Hiring a Pro to Proofread My Book?

While this blog has discussed the standards found in traditional publishing houses, self-published authors can follow the same process. Some editing might be combined into a single step in the stages of book editing—such as having the same editor perform both content and line edits—but each book should have separate steps for editing and proofreading.

The lesson here is that, as an educated author, you should be aware of the differences between the stages of book editing, including book proofreading. Don’t confuse the two! Of course, there are similarities, and experienced editors can be excellent proofreaders (and vice versa), but don’t tell your editor that your manuscript “only needs a proofread,” unless you’re convinced that it’s so clean and error-free that it’s ready to be put into PDF format. If there are no more changes to make – other than adjusting for true errors – you’re likely ready for a true proofread. Ask a professional for a sample edit or proofread of up to five pages to allow them to determine which type of service your manuscript needs. Once they have evaluated that you’re really ready for a proofread, get excited, because it means that your book’s launch date is just around the corner!

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How Long Will It Take to Edit My Book?

Cost to Self-Publish a Book

Improve Your Writing Process

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How Long Will It Take to Edit My Book?

Answer to the question how long will it take to edit my book symbolized by woman's hand holding pen and marking up document.

Sometimes a question seems straightforward, like “How long will it take to edit my book?” but the answer can be a bit deceptive. There are a few variables to consider before you arrive at the right answer for your situation. 

In this blog, we’re going to consider what different timelines might look like if you get your book edited by a professional. But if you’re interested in some steps you can take to self-edit your work before hiring a pro, take a look at these blogs for some suggestions: 

“Self-Editing Checklist for Authors”

“29 Words to Cut from Your Novel”

“Self-Editing Tips: Use CTRL+H to Edit Your Novel”

If you’re thinking, “I want to hire an editor for my book, but I don’t know how long it will take,” read on! 

Different Levels of Book Editing

One of the biggest factors in how long it will take when you get your book edited is the level of editing your book needs. If you are an amateur writer who is just getting started, you may not have a clear idea of what these terms mean or what the results will look like after your book has been out through that round of editing. 

Please don’t expect an editor can” fix” everything in a single round. If you have questions about what is included in your editor’s services, you should ask. When you get your book edited, you should always have a clear understanding of what your editor is doing. If there is something specific you want them to do, make sure to address that with them.

Developmental Edit

A developmental edit can take several months. Many people think, “It won’t take that long to edit my book,” and sometimes it doesn’t, but if you want the ultimate package that includes feedback, direction, and coaching, you shouldn’t rush this process. 

Typically a developmental edit happens when you haven’t yet finished your manuscript. Maybe you need help brainstorming or finishing the writing of certain sections. If you’ve got a plot hole you don’t know how to fix, or you’ve written everything except the conclusion, or you’re not sure about big-picture things that affect the whole book (like pacing, structure, and tone)…look at your developmental editing options. 

This level of editing will help you cross the finish line if you haven’t gotten to the goal word count you’re reaching for, or it will help you cut down the manuscript to a marketable length if you’ve overshot the ideal word count for your book’s genre. Think of it like professional “workshopping,” where an experienced editor (who is often also a writer) helps with way more than just the technical elements of grammar, spelling, and punctuation. 

Content and Structural Editing

Content editing can reasonably be expected to take a few weeks to several months, depending on the length of your manuscript and whether you provide your editor with detailed directions for what you want. 

This level of editing most often happens once you’ve completed your manuscript, but often when you get your book edited with a developmental package, suggestions for the structure and content are included. 

Content/structural editing focuses on the storyline and pace, organizing the chapters or sections, and ensuring continuity and cohesion. If you’re not sure if chapters are in the right order, or if you want help from an outsider’s perspective with double-checking content and organization, content editing may be the right option. A content editor may or may not also include line editing and correcting errors as part of their process, and of course, if line editing is part of the process, content editing will take a bit longer. 

Line Editing

Line editing can go quickly when you hire a professional editor for your book. At SRD Editing Services, we estimate one week per 25,000 words for our line editing services, although most are completed sooner.  

A line edit is what people commonly mean when they say, “I need someone to edit my book!” A line edit frequently focuses on line-by-line changes, looking at specifics of word choice, repetitive wording, in-chapter changes, and corrections to elements of style and grammar. A line edit will often include more than merely corrections to typos and grammatical errors; it can also include suggestions for improvement, although these tend to be more focused and less sweeping than what you’ll find in a developmental or content edit. 

Copyediting

The least-intense, and therefore quickest, type of editing—copyediting—can typically be completed by a professional in a week for most manuscripts of 100,000 words or less. If you’re looking to get your book edited by a professional, at the very least get it copyedited, even if you skip all the other editing steps and options. 

People often confuse copyediting and proofreading, so it can be helpful to be aware of the difference. 

Have your book copyedited as an MS Word document before you have it converted into a PDF or epub file by a professional graphic designer. Word has several valuable features that make it easy to search for and correct grammar mistakes, spelling errors, punctuation problems, and more. Once your manuscript is turned into a PDF, making changes can often be more difficult and involve more steps/more work. 

Have your book proofread after it’s turned into a PDF. Once you or a graphic designer has converted the manuscript into “what it will look like” to the consumer, you’ll want to do a final review to catch any small mistakes before the book is available to readers. 

Copyediting will likely involve correcting multiple errors on a page; by the time you’re proofreading, hopefully, your manuscript will need only one correction every four or five pages.

What Other Factors Affect the Timeline to Edit My Book?

While the type of editing you choose for your manuscript will naturally affect the timeline when you hire an editor for your book, there are other factors to consider that will affect how long it takes to edit your book.

Length of the Manuscript

While it seems self-explanatory, longer manuscripts usually take longer to edit. Although it’s not quite that straightforward. While a 10K-word manuscript may take less time than a 50K-word manuscript, if the shorter one needs a more in-depth edit (like a developmental edit) and the longer one needs less editing (like a copyedit only), then the two manuscripts may take approximately the same amount of time.

Genre of Manuscript

Complex or heavily researched manuscripts will take additional time due to fact-checking, reference-checking (whether as Notes or in a Bibliography), character tracking and consistency reviews, or structural analysis. Poetry, fantasy, sci-fi, and historical fiction and nonfiction are some examples of genres that commonly take more time to edit.

Experience and Approach of Editor

Ask yourself: “What’s important to me when I hire an editor for my book?” Editors, like writers, have different processes. If your editor is very experienced, they may have a standardized form or set of questions to help them save time. They will likely have a specific style guide they want to use, and if you are more familiar with those standards, you can save time collectively.  

Avoid an editor who claims to use AI to assist their editing. Amazon and other online publishers are now developing policies to prevent writers from uploading AI-generated materials. There is a fine line between AI-generated and AI-assisted, and mislabeling your content can result in severe penalties. 

Final Thoughts on Hiring a Professional to Edit My Book?

No matter what factors influence the timeline for your book’s edit, it’s prudent to underestimate that multiple factors can affect your personal publishing goals. A professional editor can make a reasonable or general estimate, but snags can always come up during the process when you get your book edited by a pro. 

Whatever timeline you and your editor agree to, it’s wise to add 10% as a cushion, especially if you have additional deadlines to meet after the edit. My book editing schedule includes extra time built in to account for the “unknown unknowns,” and I suggest you take this precaution as well. While it isn’t always necessary, clients (writers) are often happy when I plan for this extra time and end up having their edits completed ahead of schedule. Win-win.  

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Self-Editing Tips: Use Ctrl + H to Edit Your Writing

Close up black and white photograph of the keys on a typewriter.

MS Keyboard Shortcuts Are Gold to Edit Your Writing

If you use MS Word on a regular basis to write and edit, you probably already know about the most common keyboard shortcuts. (If you’re not familiar with the long list of Windows keyboard shortcuts out there, check them out now!) In particular, there are several wonderful, useful keyboard shortcuts that will help you level up when you edit your writing.  They open for you a world of time-saving tricks.

Admittedly, my favorite keyboard shortcut is Ctrl + Z, which is “undo.” I frequently make mistakes and immediately want to revert the text or document back to the way it was.

(If only there was an Undo button for life, right? But I’ll settle for Ctrl + Z.)

When you’re an author putting your early-draft manuscript through rounds of self-editing (using this checklist can help!), you can save valuable time and perhaps lower the costs of your professional editing by using a few simple tricks that are built into MS Word.

This article will help you navigate and learn to use one of the most helpful, time-saving keyboard shortcuts available when editing your writing: “Ctrl + H” or “Find/Replace All.” 

"Replace All" Is Misleading: You Need "More"

It’s not as simple as it first sounds. You may hear “Replace All” and think, “Oh! That’s an easy way to edit my writing. I can fix every mistake of the same kind all at once.”

Well, yes, but even more so: no. When you’re using the function for Ctrl + H, there are a few advanced settings to be aware of, and there are a few tricks to make your search-and-find editing sessions easier.

Finding "More"

When you hold the “Ctrl” key while tapping the “H” key, the Find/Replace All pop-up box should open. Select the “More” button in the lower left-hand corner to see the Advanced Menu options. Using these options will level up your results when editing your writing.

Find and Replace All box in MS Word with the "More" button for Advanced menu options circled in red. Helpful for writers editing their own writing.
Click "More" to open the Advanced Settings menu.

Accidentally Replacing Parts of Words

For example, let’s say that while editing your writing, you noticed that you inconsistently used the number “2” and spelled out “two” throughout your manuscript. Now you want to quickly edit and correct all the numbers, according to the Chicago style standards, to ready it for publication. And you want an easy way to fix your number errors.

However, if you simply Find/Replace All appearances of 2 with two at once, without reviewing the advanced settings, you could have problems.

What happens if you use Find/Replace All universally? Well, when that 2 is part of a larger number, like 22 or 287, you’ll end up only replacing the appropriate numeral, creating new errors like twotwo and two87. Neither of these is what you want.

I’ve seen a popular post online (and you might have too) that tells the story of a British publisher that used Find/Replace All with an American book, specifically replacing pants with trousers. Then, the book went to print with occutrousers in the text because the editor did not adjust the advanced settings. Whoops.

How to Search for Whole Words Only

Search for whole words only when editing your writing to ensure greater accuracy
Search for whole words only when editing your writing to ensure greater accuracy.

When you open the Advanced Menu options by clicking on “More,” you’ll see a series of tic boxes in an extended menu. 

The second option down in the left-hand column reads, “Find whole words only.” Select this box to search only for whole words in your Find/Replace all edits. 

To continue our previous example, if you select this option, then search for 2, you’ll see it only brings up instances of 2 that are not a part of larger numbers like 22 or 287. 

You can see how this would help if you’re searching for pants as an individual/whole world; in that case, no occutrousers. 

Pro editing tip: 

Using “find whole words only” comes in hand when editing your writing for the word “OK.” People commonly spell/punctuate/capitalize this inconsistently (OK, okay, Ok, Ohkay, O.K.), but the series of letters can be part of many other words.

So if you’re doing a search for ok, it’s appropriate to check the back for “whole words only,” to make sure you don’t pull up words like spoke or stroke or book, look, or took. 

How many ways have you seen to spell OK? What’s your default?  

Fun fact: CMOS prefers OK but defers to author preference as long as there’s consistency. APA Style does not state a preference, as OK is simply seen as nonacademic and inappropriate.

Personally, I prefer okay, but oh well.

Accidentally Missing Capitalization Errors

Capitalization can be a real pain when you’re searching for words that might be capitalized inconsistently, like asap and X-ray. 

Again, we have our common offender, OK.

OK is a very commonly used word at the beginning of sentences as well as throughout. So capitalization for it might be all over the place in your manuscript.

Make sure to always check the case if you’re making an edit to a word that the Merriam-Webster dictionary advises specific capitalization. For example, if you want to ensure that any instances of nasa or Nasa become NASA. 

But, in the case of OK, if you know you consistently wrote okay throughout and you want to edit them to OK, do two searches–for okay and Okay--with the case sensitive option turned on to ensure you replace them all with OK.

How to "Match Case" to Self-Edit Your Writing

When you open the Advanced Menu options in the Find/Replace box, you’ll see a tic box next to “Match case.” Check off this box to search for the same capitalization as what you enter in “Find what.” 

Match case to Replace all of the same capitalization when editing your writing
Match case to Replace all of the same capitalization when editing your writing.
Use matchcase and find whole words combined to replace specific words when editing your writing.
Use matchcase and find whole words combined to replace specific words when editing your writing.

Edit Your Writing with A Self-Editing Exercise

Want to practice using these advanced editing options to edit your writing? One good way is to do a thorough round of edits focusing on some of your most overused, easily cut verbiage. 

Not that anything you wrote “must go”…but…probably. 

Two of these overused words/phrases that I am particularly sensitive to are just and a lot of. 

*sigh*

I challenge you, specifically, to perform advanced searches on your manuscript for these two top offenders. Some people overuse these more than others. *wink* 

To take this exercise even further and give a thorough edit to your writing, check out our blog and the linked video on 29 words you can cut from your novel.

Good luck and happy writing! 

Your Professional Editor

A round of self-editing for your writing is essential, but when you’re ready for a professional touch, contact SRD Editing Services. 

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Two Common (and Easy-to-Use) Semicolon Rules

Black examples of the semicolon in different fonts against a white background

Semicolons: Who Needs 'Em?

Black examples of the semicolon in different fonts against a white background

Oh! Semicolons. I, like many other editors, love them. But if you’re a writer who finds the semicolon *the worst, * you have options available to you.

One of those options is that you don’t have to use any semicolons at all if you don’t want to. I won’t pressure you.

But if you want to learn the most basic semicolon rules, here you go. There are only two common semicolon uses that writers may “need” to know. At least, two that are simple enough you won’t have to look them up to remember them.

Starting your round of self-edits with a self-editing checklist can make it easier to finalize your manuscript. If you find that you particularly struggle with semicolons, add them as an item to your personal self-editing checklist. 

Semicolon Rule 1: Compound Sentences without a Coordinating Conjunction

In Grammarian: When you’re joining two independent clauses into a compound sentence without a coordinating conjunction, use a semicolon.

In plain English: When you want to combine two sentences into one and you’re not using and/or/but, you can use a semicolon.

What it means: you never *have* to use a semicolon in this situation. You can separate it into two sentences, or use a comma with the appropriate coordinating conjunction.

When this can be especially useful: when using a pronoun such as it/this/that.

Example:

I ate the pizza. The pizza was delicious.

I ate the pizza, and the pizza was delicious.

I ate the pizza, and it was delicious.

I ate the pizza; it was delicious.

Now I know this is incredibly simple, but it is also clear. (Always start with a basic example when explaining something). You can easily see how we progressed from two sentences to a compound sentence that uses a coordinating conjunction and a comma, to a compound sentence that uses a semicolon and no conjunction.

Honestly, this rule applies even with compound subjects or predicates, with sentences that contain a lot of adjectives or adverbs, and even with sentences chock-full of prepositions.

Example:

I ate the wings and pizza; the wings made me sick, but the pizza was delicious.

I ate pizza and drank Coke; this combination made me sick to my stomach.

I ate pizza and got sick; that got me thinking.

I think the semicolon is particularly helpful in sentences with pronouns it/this//that because you can combine two thoughts that are connected, without having to repeat yourself, while maintaining clearly that the pronoun refers to the immediately preceding noun. Sometimes when the pronoun and the noun to which it refers are separated into two sentences, the meaning becomes unclear.

The process of self-editing your book can be long and tedious, so many people hire an editor instead. It can take a long time.

Now, “it” here *probably* refers to “the process of self-editing your book” but “it” could also refer to “hir[ing] an editor.” Do you see what I mean about ambiguity? Readers may become confused.

(If I came across this in a line edit, I would leave a comment with suggestions on how to rewrite this to ensure the meaning remains clear.)

The process of self-editing your book can be long and tedious, so many people hire an editor instead, which can take a long time. (Indicates hiring an editor takes a long time.)

The process of self-editing your book can be long and tedious, which takes a long time, so many people hire an editor instead. (Indicates self-editing your book takes a long time.)

Semicolon Rule 2: Use semicolons to Separate List Items when Lists Contain Lists

Think of it as “list-ception.”

If you have a list of three or more items, you separate each list item with a comma.

I went to the store and bought milk, eggs, and bread.

Simple enough.

But when one of your list items contains elements that would also be separated by commas, it would create confusion. So you separate the larger (external) list with semicolons and the shorter (internal) list with commas.

Yesterday I went to the post office, picked up groceries, and dropped off my dry cleaning. The groceries I picked up included milk, eggs, and bread.

As a single sentence:

Yesterday I went to the post office; dropped off my dry cleaning; and picked up groceries including eggs, milk, and bread.

Notice I changed the order of items so the contained list would be at the end. This was simply personal preference; I personally think it’s a bit grammatically neater. But it would also be acceptable to keep them in the original order.

Yesterday I went to the post office; picked up groceries including milk, eggs, and bread; and dropped off dry cleaning.

In this original order, it’s a bit easier to see what I mean by “external” and “internal” lists.

Semicolons: Simple as That!

And that’s it! The two most common and easy-to-follow semicolon rules.

Now, there’s different types of editing, which can vary even more depending on which genre the manuscript is or the type of writer you are. Finish your  developmental editing for creative concepts before jumping into your specific technical edits; your manuscript will benefit the most in the end. And your readers will love it! 

Want to learn more about semicolons? Check out this blog from Grammarly which guides you through 5 different ways to use semicolons. 

Happy writing! 

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Self-Editing Tips: Chicago Style Overview of Number Rules

Colorful blocks of different shapes with numbers. Self-editing tips for numbers in Chicago Style.
Colorful blocks of different shapes with numbers. Self-editing tips for numbers in Chicago Style.

Everyone comes to writing with a different background. Different instructors. Different books we’ve read over the years that influence us. Different advice we’ve been given and rules we’ve been told. But when it comes to writing for yourself as a self-published author or prepping a manuscript for traditional publication, you may need to go against the rules you thought you knew and adapt to one style guide or another. These self-editing tips focus on number rules and will help you understand how to follow one particular set of guidelines. 

What are style guides?

Style guides are standardized sets of rules that writers can follow to make their manuscripts consistent internally and with other books that may be their competition.

The most common style guide in commercial book publishing is the Chicago Manual of Style (which is currently in its 17th edition), but many publishers make their own in-house style guides that deviate from the general rules.

Getting Started Self-Editing Tips: What Style Guide Should I Use?

In most cases, whether you’re self-publishing or submitting for traditional publication, the CMoS guide is a great place to start. One of the best self-editing tips that self-publishing authors don’t realize is that if there’s a rule you don’t like and you’re self-publishing, you can make your own rule! Just be sure to apply the rule consistently throughout your writing and to let your editor know about your preference.

Deviating from the Style Guide

For example, CMoS typically defers to the Merriam-Webster dictionary for spellings of words, however, I recently edited for an author who preferred the lesser-used spelling of “advisor” instead of the M-W preference “adviser.” By making me aware of his preference, I was able to help him make sure that his preferred spelling was maintained.

Other examples of deviating from CMoS that I’ve seen include a preference for “healthcare” over “health care” and maintaining capitalization for holy and religious terms that CMoS defaults to downcase.

Self-Editing Tips for Numbers in CMoS

Every style guide starts with a general rule, then specifies more details depending on the specific use and situations a writer might find themselves in.

The General Rule

In CMoS, the general rule is to spell out numbers of one hundred or less. Hyphenate numbers that are two-word phrases.

Additionally, you use the numeral for 101 and higher.

Ex:

He is seven years old. 

We expect ninety-five visitors. 

After 112 years had passed, the house no longer stood tall. 

Self-Editing Tips for Numbers: Some Notable Exceptions

Numbers that begin a sentence

Spell out numbers that begin a sentence, even if it’s a year or large number you would normally use a numeral for. Do not begin sentences with numerals.

Ex: 

Eighteen seventy-five was a memorable year.

Two million dollars was the largest donation. 

To avoid this, if you’d rather use the numeral when self-editing, add wording to the start of the sentence.

Ex: 

Instead of “1875 was a memorable year,” rephrase to:

In 1875, memorable events occurred…

Large numbers

When writing whole numbers in the ten thousands, hundred thousands, millions, or billions, spell out the number

Ex:

We expect ten thousand people to attend the event. 

After one hundred and forty thousand years, the tectonic shifts made the area unrecognizable. 

No fewer than four million results were compiled. 

Money

When writing monetary amounts, use the dollar symbol ($) and the numeral, or a combination of numerals and spelled words in the case of large numbers, rather than writing out the number and the word “dollars.” There is no need to specify “USD.” If using another monetary denomination (euros, rupees, yen, etc.), use the appropriate symbol. If referring to a non-US monetary unit that also uses “dollars,” you may specify the country with a designation before the dollar symbol. 

For example, Canadian dollars are expressed as “C$”, and Australian dollars are expressed as “A$”.  

Ex:

“Hey!” I cried. “You owe me $5!”

On sale this week only for £999.

The average cost of a house in the city is $175,000. 

The facility is expected to generate more than C$2 million annually.

Time

For times, choose between either the specific “a.m.” or “p.m.” designation or a word phrase to describe time — such as “in the afternoon” or “o’clock.” 

For a.m. and p.m., use the numeral and with word phrases, spell out the number.

When precise time is required, use a.m. and p.m.

Ex: 

The package arrived at precisely 4:22 p.m.

The package arrived around four o’clock.

The package arrived at approximately four in the afternoon.

Measurements

OK, so this self-editing tip gets tricky: when using an abbreviation for the unit of measurement, use a numeral. But spell out numbers when measurements are spelled as words.

Ex:

We need a board that’s twenty-two inches long.

We need a board measuring 22 x 4 in.

Dates

You can pretty much always expect to use the numerals when including the entire date. When writing more narratively consider spelling out numbers, especially for ordinals.

Ex:

They will arrive on June 2, 2022.

They will arrive on June second.  

Percentages

In nontechnical manuscripts, CMoS prefers spelling out the word “percent” rather than using the percent symbol (%). 

Ex: 

This year’s turnout was twenty percent higher than last year.

There was an increase of 217 percent over last year.

I only scored forty-five percent on the exam. 

Self-Editing Tips for Number Correction

While writing your draft, chances are that you didn’t have all these number rules in mind. Even if you were mindful of being compliant with Chicago style, the best writers sometimes make mistakes. Once you are ready to put your manuscript through a self-editing checklist for authors, I suggest that one of those rounds of self-editing focus specifically on number rules. 

There are two main ways you can make mistakes with numbers while writing: either you used the numeral where you should have spelled out the word, or you used the word where you should have used the numeral. 

To correct numerals to words

Using CTRL+F, search for all the numerals in your text to confirm that they should be numerals. 

Self-editing tips: To search all numerals, put the following into your search bar: 

^#

This should highlight every numeral, and you can use the navigation panel on the left-hand side of the screen to check that each one is correct.

To correct words to numerals

This is a bit trickier but can still be completed using CTRL+F. 

You will need to search for each number-word individually, at least for one through twenty. (One, two, three, four…etc.) 

Once this is complete, search for the root denomination word of each count of ten. (Twenty, thirty, forty…etc.)

Correct "dollars" to $ and "%" to "percent"

Lastly, you can perform separate searches for the word “dollars” (or other monetary units) and for the percent symbol (%) to find any use of them in the text, then make corrections by spelling out the word instead of using the symbol. 

Nice work! You've successfully followed our self-editing tips for numbers in your manuscript!

Ready to discuss your manuscript editing needs?

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Self-editing Checklist for Authors

A pink piece of paper demonstrating a self-editing checklist for authors

Congratulations! You’ve finished the initial drafts of your manuscript. Maybe you even went through developmental edits or critique partners already. Now, you think you’re ready for content editing or line editing. Not so fast. You want everything to be as clean as possible—you want to save yourself the time and money of making editors do extra work. Here’s a handy self-editing checklist you can use to guide your final steps before you send it off to be marked up.

A Word on Style Guides:

While the big five publishers typically follow the guidelines in the Chicago Manual of Style, most independent book publishers have an in-house guide; as a self-published writer, the rules of style are yours to choose from.

Be prepared to discuss with your editor some specifics like Oxford comma, when to use italics, and whether you prefer “ok” or “okay” or “OK” or “O.K.”, “T-shirt” or “tee shirt” or “t-shirt”.

My advice: Pick one and use it consistently during your self-edit. If you and the editor decide to make a change later, it will be a smoother process.

Self-Editing Checklist for Writers

  • Chapter & section titles
  • Fact checking
  • Character & setting consistency
  • Punctuation consistency
  • Order of events /continuity
  • Basic font/formatting

Let’s go through these in some more detail. Edit your writing with these in mind, and you’ll feel good passing it on to beta readers or your editor.

Editing Chapter & Section Titles

Every chapter should be marked. You might not title them, but they need to at least have numbers. Every chapter should start on a new page.

Create a new page by inserting a page break at the end of the previous chapter. Click your cursor after your last line of text, hit Ctrl + Enter (or Command+Enter on a Mac) and voila! Your cursor will be at the top of the next page. Now use your “Delete” key to move the next chapter title into place.

According to Chicago style, spell out the words (“two” and “twenty”) rather than using Arabic or Roman numerals. My rule of thumb is to be consistent. I don’t care if you like it spelled out or use numbers — just pick one and go through all your chapters and make them the same.

self-editing checklist for writers, authors, and poets
It will all build on itself. Trust the self-editing and professional editing process …

Lastly, you don’t need to center the chapter title. You can if you want, but your designer will likely remove it anyway.

Now, cross this off your self-editing checklist. Well done. 

Editing for Facts

Fact: it’s super-easy to Google a business, brand, or person’s name and make sure it’s spelled, capitalized, and punctuated correctly. You can do this simple research yourself or you can pay someone else to do it, but it should be done.

Pop quiz: Is it “Pop-Tart” or “PopTarts” or “Pop Tarts”? What about “cleanex”? Is that correct? Does Frederick Douglas’ last name have two “s”es?

Answers: Pop-Tarts, Kleenex, and yes.

I will never forget being younger and reading a book from a renowned author, and noticing that the spelling of “Arrowsmith” appeared in the printed book. This was in pre-Google days but still… It haunts me.

Fact: it’s pretty easy to check the history of most things, and if you’re writing a historical novel, you must.

Don’t have your characters using technology that is invented after their time, dressing in clothing that doesn’t match the period, or unaware of information that was common knowledge in their day.

I once edited a novel set in the 1800s where the richest character showed off how rich he was because he was the only guy in town with a certain type of car… or any car for that matter, because they hadn’t been invented yet.

Fact: it’s a little harder to check the science on something if you’re a sci-fi writer, but you’d better do it. Otherwise, science lovers won’t want to read your stuff. Take the time to learn the basics of the science you’re writing about. You don’t have to get your PhD, but you do have to know at least enough to pass a 101 class.

This self-editing checklist item can take a bit more time, but it will be worth it in the end. 

Editing for Character & Setting Consistency

improve-writing-process
Your reader will go down a straight path from beginning to end. Take a look at it the way they do.

I’m assuming you didn’t sit to write the whole novel at once. So I’ll give you leniency and predict that some details probably changed. Maybe a character starts off brunette and ends up with black hair. Maybe the house starts off blue but ends up yellow. Maybe the scene starts off midday and suddenly shifts to sunset.

Inconsistencies happen.

If you’re a planner, you might have made a whole character description list and maps and who knows what else. They might come in handy at this point, but if you didn’t make one already, there’s no time like the present.

Start at the beginning. When a new character or setting is introduced, make a note of what details you included, including how you spelled the name that first time. If you spelled it wrong the first time, correct it and move on. But otherwise, I want you to read through and make sure every other use of that character’s name is spelled the same way as the first use.

Yes. This happens more than you would think. Writers change the spelling of character names. Sometimes the name itself will change or the character suddenly has a nickname—it happens all the time.

Your reader (and editor) will think: How was I supposed to know Kate and Katie were the same person?

Some writers might find it helpful to note the time of day or location at the beginning of each scene, then read through the entire scene and confirm consistency. After you know a certain scene, chapter, or section is consistent, you can remove the notes about it.

The trick is: Read through and note details that arise every time the character appears. Then, the next time the character is in the scene, check your notes. Make sure distinguishing features or idiomatic expressions remain true to the character you’ve already introduced.

Give this self-editing checklist item several rounds and perhaps break it into sub-list items if that is the right process for you. 

For consistency with self-editing numbers, take a look at this detailed blog about self-editing numbers in Chicago Manual of Style. 

Punctuation Consistency

This is another thing you can pay for if you want to, but with a little elbow grease, you can shape this up pretty good yourself. So roll up your sleeves and get to work.

The three biggest offenders here are probably dashes ( – vs. — ), use of parentheses, and punctuation in time.

Dashes — first: they’re not hyphens. Hyphens join two words to make a new one and don’t have a space on either side. There are two types of dashes (but this blog is long enough, no?), and my general rule is: if you want to make the reader follow you across a little “pause” or “jump” then put a space for them to jump over, two short dashes to land on — like this — and a space to let them jump back into the main sentence.

Just make all your dashes between words consistent.

Parentheses: if you open it, you must close it. Don’t leave any parenthesis hanging. If you start it, finish it too.

Don’t leave a random parenthesis hanging at the end of a sentence or paragraph if there wasn’t one earlier in the sentence or paragraph. It’s technically just a typo, but these things happen. And your reader will go back and look for the other one and lose their train of thought. You never want the reader to lose their train of thought.

self-edit, consistency, punctuation help
Make your message clear, and it will be timeless.

Punctuation in Time: I may be going against Chicago style here but I’ll say it anyway—minimize your use of colons, and use periods to your advantage. I suggest that if you’re mentioning an exact on-the-hour time, go ahead use the Arabic numeral without a :00 after it. If you’re using “a.m.” and “p.m.”, periods help make it clearer and are preferred by CMoS.

Don’t capitalize “AM” or “PM”, and I suggest that you never use “o’clock”, unless it’s accurate to the historical period or character’s voice. CMoS does allow for “o’clock.” 

For more about consistency with semicolons take a look at our blog with easy semicolon rules to help you check this off your self-editing checklist. 

Editing for Event Continuity

We’d all like to think that our scenes don’t contain any holes. But, we’re wrong. 

Continuity is easy to mess up—and even after you’ve edited for character and setting consistency, there’s one more type of consistency you should check for. 

Re-read scenes with an eye for consistency of smaller actions inside each event. Do your characters repeat actions or lines of dialogue? Are there gaps between actions in the scene—for example, does a character take off his jacket, but then in a couple lines, it’s back on again? 

This round of your consistency edits—specifically for continuity—is where you’re checking for internal consistency within scenes. Some editors will begin at the end of the book and work their way backward chapter by chapter, to make sure that the continuity within each scene is solid.  

As your self-editing checklist is getting shorter, your manuscript is getting better. Keep going! 

Editing for Basic Formatting

OK, you’re reaching the conclusion. You’ve edited and re-edited and revised and checked over everything. You might have even reached a point where you feel like your eyes will cross if you have to read it again. 

This round of editing doesn’t really require reading. Just attention to detail. 

The long and complicated explanation regarding formatting is that—oh boy—it largely depends on how you plan to publish. If you’re self-publishing, you’ll be sending your Word document to a professional designer for the internal formatting for your printed book. 

Don’t argue, don’t think you can cut corners or save yourself money by “formatting” your printed book yourself. You’ve put so much hard work into your manuscript, and if you’re going to print physical copies, don’t sell yourself short. Hire a pro. That being said, you will want to do some basic formatting before you send it to a designer. 

If you are planning to self-publish an ebook, there are specific formatting guidelines you will need to follow. But again, you’ll need to do some basics before you send it to an editor or your publishing team, or even before you convert the document into the appropriate file format. You can do this yourself, if you want to take the time to learn, or you can hire a pro. But either way, do the basic formatting. 

So what do I mean by “basic formatting”? 

Simple: 

  1. Make sure that all the body copy is in the same font and same spacing. Select all text, and make the font, font size, and paragraph spacing uniform. Don’t try to manipulate this stuff so that the MS Word document “looks right.” It’s more important to communicate to the designer how you want it to look than it is to make it look that way. 
  2. Make sure each chapter starts on a new page (see earlier checklist item). If you want to be really fancy, make sure that each chapter title is in bold, to identify it at a glance.
  3. Search the document for any double spaces. Remove them. No double spaces at the beginning of a new sentence. No double spaces at all. 
  4.  Put in your “front matter.” This includes the Title page, acknowledgments page, and copyright page. You *can* include a Table of Contents page, but do NOT (repeat: do NOT) bother to include the page numbers here. The page numbers will change throughout the formatting, and this page is best finalized as one of the last things. 

So four basic things that might take you an hour or so to complete and officially cross off your self-editing checklist. And if you don’t know how—ask! Whether you have an editor you can consult with, or if you check out some helpful tutorials on YouTube or Skillshare to improve your MS Word skills, there are plenty of places for you to find out what you need to know to make these simple formatting at home in your manuscript. 

Ebook formatting from SRD Editing Services | literary editor fiction & nonfiction | Orlando, FL

So that’s it! I know I said this wasn’t going to be a comprehensive self-editing checklist—and trust me, it isn’t—but hopefully, we’ve struck that balance between “that’s enough” and “too much”. This is definitely editing that most writers can manage themselves—no special training or extensive skills necessary—however, hopefully it’s not too advanced that you’ve gone cross-eyed. 

My Favorite Editing Shortcuts

Editing can be a long process. Here’s a few of my favorite shortcuts. Of course, these are for a PC, but I think on a Mac you just use the “Command” key instead of the Ctrl key.

  • Ctrl + A for select all
  • Ctrl + F to find
  • Ctrl + K to find and replace
  • Ctrl + Z for undo

You can also check out this blog about how to use CTRL + H when writing and as an addition to your self-editing checklist. 

Happy writing!

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How to Outline Your Novel or Nonfiction Book

Woman editing a stack of papers by hand to demonstrate how to outline your novel or nonfiction book.

In my years as a developmental editor, ghostwriter, and book reviewer, I’ve come across a few tricks to breaking down a good story, and a few tips for assembling one. Maybe you’ve been told before how to outline your novel or nonfiction book, but hopefully this blog will have some new information for you. 

In the discussion about different types of writers — “planners” vs. “pantsers” — I tend to come down closer on the side of “planner.” I look at it like having a road map that helps you know what direction you’re heading, but it doesn’t mean you can’t take detours or stops or double-back along the way. 

Writing is a journey, and here’s a few tips to help you get through it.

About Outline "Rules"

Many writers say to begin a plot or nonfiction book with an outline. You’ve probably done different kinds of outlines repeatedly since the seventh grade.

I wholeheartedly agree that you should outline your novel or nonfiction book, except two things:

First: You’re not in school, so don’t think your outline will be graded. It’s for you, to organize your thoughts. So don’t use Roman numerals or complicated tiered systems if they don’t work for you. Regular ol’ bullet points work just fine.

Second: Take a step back to something even more basic than the outline. First, take three blank pages and plot out your book’s beginning, then the end, and then figure out the middle. One page for each.

First Tip to Outline Your Novel or Nonfiction Book: Begin at the Beginning

The beginning is often the easiest to write. You have figured out where to start; you have a lot of information and world building and context to put in.

Limit yourself to only one page to summarize the most important points for the beginning of your outline. You will expand on it later. No doubt.

Answer Me These Questions Three

The beginning of your story should answer three questions, so you want to address them on the first page, and use them to build the first section of your outline.

  1. What’s the story about?
  2. What does the reader need to know to understand it?
  3. How much does the reader know already?

Your first two chapters should set up the context. Maybe a preface or introduction if you can squeeze it in. But really, you don’t have long to get the reader invested. When you want to outline your novel, include specific points and details about how and where you will hit these points in the narrative. 

Assume your back cover copy has gotten the reader to open to page 1. They’re primed for you to “wow” them. Use a barbed hook to pull them along through the opening pages. Show them that they made the right decision to crack the cover — because you’ve got something to say, you’ve got a story to tell, and you’re talking straight to them.

Getting them hooked is one thing. Interested is another. But really getting the reader to the point where they can say to someone “I’ve read a couple chapters, and I really like it so far” — that’s the first solid milestone.

Give Readers what They Need & Build to Outline Your Novel or Nonfiction

You want your book’s readers to understand the context for the book right away. Weigh in the first page they should clearly know the main theme of your book. Not the thesis statement of it, but what’s at the heart. They should be able to immediately see themselves living inside it for hours.

You want readers to figure out quickly that they have some idea of what’s going on. Don’t overload the beginning, keep them walking through the introduction to the topic or the characters’ world, and give them a few pages to put together familiar pieces. Connect with things similar to what readers have heard or seen before.

The beginning of your book can namedrop or allude to references, and it should convince the reader you know what you’re talking about. Both for fiction and nonfiction.

Keep the Reader Guessing

Although it will be tempting at the beginning, don’t reveal every secret. Don’t list off everything that makes your book different. Let your readers discover why your book is different and tell you when they’ve finished it. Instead, focus on letting them see how the knowledge they bring from their experience as a reader is going to pay off for them in your book.

Then, when they think they have a handle on the topic at hand and the world you’ve created for your characters, drop the first bomb on them. Shatter something the reader took for granted, something they thought they knew and understood. Put something familiar in a new light, and you’ll get them passed the beginning of the book and into its middle.

Second Tip to Outline Your Novel or Nonfiction Book: When You Get to the End, Stop

Next in the outline of your novel or nonfiction book, consider the end of your book. Your ending has to stick, if you want anyone to leave an online review or tell their friends about you. Too often I see writers really dig into the beginning and lose steam by the end. So, outline your book’s ending before its middle.

Use one of your three sheets of paper to brainstorm the answers to the three following questions. 

  1. Where does the reader end up?
  2. How do they feel?
  3. What should they do next?

If you plot the end of your book with clear intentions of the results you’re aiming for, you are more likely to hit them. Consider both issues of plot structure and resolution for character arcs, as well as the emotional ripples you’ll be sending through your readers’ souls. Do you want readers to be better prepared for something in the world? Do you want them to have an emotional reaction? 

Again, considering how your book’s outline functions like a road map, this is your general idea of the destination you want to reach and the welcome you expect on your arrival. 

Outline Your Novel to Avoid "The Curse of the Dragging Middle"

The middle of your book will likely comprise approximately 40 to 60% of your overall content, depending on how thorough you are with your first and final sections. And, I would reckon that “somewhere in the middle” is where 40 to 60% of readership lose interest.  

This is the “meat” in burger that is your book. So your outline can’t “yada yada” past this important section. It may be tempting to rush it, but take as much time considering how to avoid making your middle “drag” as you did with brainstorming how to engage the reader in the beginning. 

Avoid a sagging middle section in your book by addressing four questions:

  1. How do I get the reader from where they are to where I want them to go?
  2. What are the 3 most important things I have to tell them (in 2 sentences each)?
  3. What order should I release this important information?
  4. How can I capture readers’ hearts and minds?

Don’t underestimate the value of having a road map to get you through this important section. If you want people to finish your book, think ahead about the course you’ll guide them along. 

Of course, this first outline isn’t a hard-and-fast rule, and the draft will change. But you’ll know where you’re starting, where you want to end up, and have a vague way how to get there if you outline your novel or nonfiction book.

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Ad Copy & Poetry: Kissing Cousins

Depictions of billboards at a busy intersection to relate ad copy and poetry

In writing for businesses, I frequently hear marketing directors/executives/creative team leaders say something to the effect of “Make every word count. We want them to feel, not think. Lead their thoughts with your words.” This is at the heart of ad copy. 

It’s poetry, commercialized. (Oh, and dumbed down to the LCD). People marketing to you expect to you read, feel, and react at about the level of a thirteen year old. Don’t think they respect your intelligence. They think the buyer is “smart” and “savvy”, not knowledgeable.

In my most humblest of opinions.

So, what can we learn here, about this crucial fact of both genres of perhaps the least-read words on the planet? (Think about it: lower but more dedicated readership numbers for poetry vs. a widespread yet fickle audience in advertising.)

“Impact” and “retention” are the names of the games in both.

Impact is Instant in both Ad Copy & Poetry

Whether it’s poetry or sales copy, you need to land with an immediate impact. No, not immediate. Instant. Where in a novel, a reader may give you a whole page to sufficiently hook them, and in a short story the reader might allow you at least a paragraph to breathe magic into words, readers of ad copy and poetry give you about three words.

Three. Friggin. Words.

In no time flat, you have to trigger the reader into some kind of reaction. Get them through to the end of the sentence. That’s your first goal.

All the advice you’ve heard about eliminating adverbs? Now is the time.

You will find a difference in the use of adjectives in poetry vs. ads though. In poetry, you want sensory images and specifics that come with detailed nouns. In ad copy, adjectives can be useful to trigger emotions. You want the reader to be able to picture the product in their hand and their life.

With that being said, some of the same rules apply. Alliteration. Cacophony. The old school literary devices that you “need to know“, all show up in poetry and ad copy.

Retention Depends on Goals

Consider your end goal when writing. 

If you want readers to feel, perhaps reflect and think very deeply, then you’re writing poetry, and you probably can keep someone who reads the first line engaged enough to read the first stanza. From there, it’s up to you to keep them engaged in every line.

If you want the reader to feel something within three words and take action by the end of a single sentence, then you’re in ad-copy-land.

For either type of writing, thinking about the goal of your words will lead to retention of your readers. If your goal is to entertain and inspire, and you focus your words on that, not only can you engage the reader for the entire poem or advertisement, but you have a higher chance of grabbing their attention in future encounters.

Ad Copy & Poetry: Concise. Clear. Compelling.

It’s what both ad copy writing and poetry must be.

Need editing for poetry or ad copy?

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Tips for Consistent Quality Writing

tips-quality-writing

There’s a problem with doing something well: Once is rarely enough. When you do something (like producing quality writing) well, two things can happen:

  1. Other people begin to expect more of you, and
  2. You begin to expect more of yourself

For a writer, this can be great. A well-done piece deserves the admiration it receives, and you should be proud when an article, poem, essay, story, or book comes together.

But unless you’re one among the rare breed of author — and I mean really, really rare — who can launch a career from one great piece, a single successful publication will not a sustainable income make.

Setting Unreasonable Standards

So after your first great piece, you sit down to write the next one. Immediately the demon of comparison shows up on your shoulder.

What if it’s not as good as your first published thing? What if you don’t live up to the expectations for quality writing you’ve set for yourself?

On some level, you try to tell yourself, “Everything will be okay if it’s not ‘perfect.'”

So you let something slide. Relax a little on your vigilance to push the quality to its extreme.

But if your first high-quality product was noticed by the public, you can bet that any dip in quality will be noticed, too. You set a high standard that others now expect to see in your work, and when they don’t see it, they will let you know.

Setting Reasonable Writing Expectations

What’s the lesson here? How do you keep yourself from being caught in an endless loop of writing better and pushing yourself to the limit every time?

Well, you don’t.

Some people think they can avoid this challenge by settling for a lower quality piece and set low expectations at the beginning. But ask yourself: Why would you expect to get readers if you lower your standards?

Readers have fairly low tolerance for writers who treat them like fools. If you’re offering mediocre or low quality, they won’t be back for more.

With lower quality writing, you’re less likely to engage as many people to begin with or bring back the ones you engage with the first time.

So what to do?

Quality Writing Tip #1: Do your best.

One man’s trash is another’s treasure and all that. If your prose is clean and error free, and your plot is well structured with thought-out character arcs and a solid narrative, readers may forgive historical inaccuracies, use of clichés or bland characters and world building.

Do your best, and be prepared to hear that your best wasn’t “perfect.”

Present the reader with a polished package, and they may overlook some areas where it could be improved. Or, at least you’ll receive feedback on what to improve for your next piece.

Quality Writing Tip #2: Use feedback.

Don’t just “receive” feedback, use it.

If you received praise from readers, and you want to know why they thought your book was high quality — ask!

This might take the form of social media polls, reading your reviews and comment threads, or sending out reader copies  of your work and asking for specific advice.

Use what your readers say to recognize at least four things your readers generally agree was high quality about your writing or the book in general, and identify at two areas where you can push the quality to higher levels in the next poem or manuscript.

Quality Writing Tip #3: Look for quality to emulate.

Maybe you really admire colorful metaphors or quirky descriptions and world building. Maybe tight and minimal sentences are what you strive for.

Read books from some of the great writers in your genre or historical time period and pick out examples of what you think makes their writing great.

Work to structure your sentences the same way, use metaphors or descriptors similarly, or mimic the dialogue style that you find engaging. Whatever it is that you enjoy about reading their work, use as a model for your own craft.

Quality Writing Tip #4: Be patient. Quality takes time.

Be prepared to tackle your manuscript in multiple revision iterations.

Maybe one day, you revise the entire thing with a focus on word choice. Then, the next day, you do a read-through and edit to focus on historical accuracy. Stay focused on the areas you’ve marked for improvement and special attention. Be patient.

You might be midway through your outline and realize you need to do additional research or watch a movie that people recommended as a reference. Do it.

Don’t let the pressure to put out a follow up to your first well-received work push you to a hasty release of the next piece.

If you’re honestly working to improve, you must work as hard as you did the first time, so you can reach the level of quality you’ve already set for yourself. Then, push at least 25% past that. Work harder than you’ve ever worked before; the improvement will show.

Once you become recognized for your skill, enjoy it. But don’t stop.

No one wants to be a one-trick pony, and compromising on your writing quality ensures you will be.

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On Intransitive Emotions: Emotional Writing Practice

Pink blooming flowers on the branch of the bush. To express emotional writing and intransitive verbs.

Where Do Emotions Go?

Do feelings have direct objects? Many do. Most of the time.

We do not feel an emotion like love if it is not directed toward some thing or someone. We don’t usually feel anger without a source, a thing that is the reason for our anger. Whether or not anger and love are ultimately directed toward the correct thing is a separate issue. But overall, they are not objectless. Not without an objective.

But what about gratitude? Or loneliness? Or freedom? Or even anxiety?

Some human emotions, like some verbs in the English language, may not need to act upon a direct object. Some things we, as humans, simply feel without it being directed toward a specific thing. Regardless of who caused the emotion or where it came from. Or what we plan to do with it.

I have heard it said that grief is love with nowhere to go. How beautifully tragic. You have so much love, but no object to direct it toward. You’ve lost someone or something you love, and what’s left is this love with no object to love. So it is transformed into grief. And then what do you do with it?

If you can learn to harness and develop your most emotional writing, you may be able to direct these emotions and express their universality to others.

Emotional Writing Is about Range

Consider: It is easy to write about emotions that come from an obvious person or can be directed easily outward or inward toward some manifestation. It is easy to show through emotional writing that a character is angry based on his or her reaction to the circumstances.

But your writing can grow from learning to express the intransitive actions and feelings of life. The things we all simply feel. The things we can’t necessarily explain or simply express.

Consider the sentence: He ran.

The verb does not need to act on anything. It stands alone. No object. This is what makes it an intransitive verb.

What emotions might your character have that run by themselves? What emotional state does your character default to? What might be some of the intransitive emotions that your character feels but which don’t have an object? 

How can you express something like a character’s gratitude for the wind on her face with emotional writing? Is the character grateful to someone or something for the wind, or does she simply feel the gratitude without having anywhere to put it? 

Does your character’s emotion need an object? It can have one, sure, but it may not be necessary. Just like he can run quickly. Or he can run on the pavement, your character can be grateful to someone or something. Even if it’s ineffable.

And if you, dear writer, can make your characters’ actions and intransitive emotions tangible, you will lead readers into a much richer world through the emotional writing that draws readers in and makes characters come to life.

This may be something to incorporate into your own self-editing and revision, as well as an item to address with your creative editor to ensure you’re working together to make your emotional writing as creative and expressive as possible. 

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29 Words to Cut from Your Novel

tips-words-novel

Each writer lives in a special, unique mind. Each can combine words into glorious chains, never before seen by human eyes. Yet, each writer is also a flawed human, who is liable to trip on the same rubble on the path to beautiful writing as every other writer. (And no writer wants to hear that there are words to cut from their writing…)

Now, first drafts are supposed to be messy. Second drafts, less so. But it’s not easy to clean up the first draft to turn it into the second. Nor is it simple to revise the second draft into the third. As an editor, I know. I’ve been there with my own writing and the writing of others.

Behold! A Video to Help!

Vivien Reis is a writer, editor, and YouTuber. 

I’ve had this video saved for a couple of years, and I keep referencing it when editing my clients’ fiction and nonfiction. 

When I thought about writing a blog on the topic of editing for word choice, I started to make my own list of words to cut. Then I realized: Why re-invent the wheel? Vivian’s done a spectacular job to begin with.

Instructions for Word Choice Edits & Which Words to Cut

Generally, I suggest writers do at least one edit through their manuscript for “word choice.” As you watch this video, take notes on which of these writing habits you’ve gotten yourself into, which of these words to cut you think might show up in your work. 

Then, open your manuscript. Let’s take a look at the current status. 

Do an automated search for the first word or phrase in question. In MS Word and Google Docs, you can Find specific words or phrases by pressing CTRL + F (or Command + F on Mac) on your keyboard. When you have the results, record the number of appearances in your notes. 

Search for all the words or phrases, without making any changes. First, you’re just gathering info. 

Making Changes

First, let me say: I do not advise that you use “Find + Replace All”.

I advise that you find all instances of a word or phrase, then examine each to determine the necessary action.

Yes. It is tedious. I understand. I have two points for you to consider: 

  1. Writing the book was tedious. You did that though. You can do this part.
  2. If you don’t do it, you can always pay your editor to edit these out for you. 

The reason I do not advocate that you simply “delete all” uses of a word or phrase, is that it will cause additional unintended effects. Trust me. Especially if what you Find & Replace can sometimes appear as part of another word. 

Instead, work your way through the words and phrases you’d like to cut or revise, search for each individually, then examine each occurrence and make a decision about how to handle each of them.

Some Words to Cut / "Big Offenders"

In the video, Vivian points out some of the biggest offenders that have become littered across contemporary writing. These are words — typically, adverbs — that can easily be removed, and generally when they are, your sentence will lose no meaning. 

Here is my “Big Offenders” list of words to cut. I commonly see each of these, and spend a significant amount of time and energy making sure to reduce their use.

  • very
  • just
  • that
  • “began” or “started”
  • “a bit,” “a little,” “a lot,” and other imprecise amounts
  • “kinda,” “sorta,” “almost,” and other hedging words
In particular, I see “just” frequently used, so I’ll pick on it as an example. Unless you’re discussing the concept of “justice,” limit the use of “just.” Just is just one of those words that just works itself into a sentence just about anywhere.

Bonus Thoughts on Words to Cut from Your Writing

What else do I look at when editing? Two other things I notice frequently that I suggest you examine in your manuscript: 

  1. “Parallel action”: You can find this by searching for the use of ‘as’ in your writing. It usually appears in dialogue tags, as in: she said as she walked or he thought while grabbing his hat. Of course, you will need to use this sometimes. Remember to vary your sentence structure.
  2. “Extreme hyperbole”: Examine your fight or action scenes. Do your characters often overexert themselves? I often see phrasing like as hard as she could or with the last of his strength, only to have the character continue to escalate the action after that phrase. Consider how to build tension Show the exertion, rather than tell about it.

Maybe these aren’t words to “cut,” but they are certainly things you want to be mindful of. 

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Chance, Luck, & The Deus ex Machina in Fiction Writing

chance-luck-deus-ex-machina

Fiction writers: It’s easy to be lazy. When you’ve gotten your characters into a difficult situation, you might think you can quickly move them to another location or give them what they need by including “as luck would have it” or “by chance,” and that explains how your characters saved themselves. 

Don’t be lazy. Move the plot with character motivations, and use chance and luck in realistic ways, to make the story more engaging and believable for the reader. 

What is the difference between ‘chance’ and ‘luck’? 

Chance is when your characters are in the right place, at the right time. Luck is how the ‘magic’ of their world affects them when they’re in the right time, at right place.

Let’s dig a bit deeper: Many people believe there are forces that pull on people’s lives. Untraceable energies, but persistent, energies like tides that move a person through their destiny.

Many other people believe that there is a force inside a person that attracts or repels other forces, making each person a more active participant in their own destiny.

Many people believe in a combination of both.

Forgive my oversimplifications and bear with me. My point is:

If you, as a fiction writer, understand how the elements of chance and luck work in life, you’ll understand how to use them to move your story’s plot.

Your Characters, the Deux & Destiny

In a narrative, consider the distinction between chance and luck. Consider whether your characters take chances or make luck for themselves.

Your characters will need to be moved from one place to another. It may be convenient for you, as the writer, to have coincidences occur – chance meetings, moments where “as luck would have it” – the character is in the right place at the right time. Or has the right weapon. Or snatches up the dropped item in the nick of time.

None of these are chance or luck. They are you putting a God in the machine to ‘magic’ away a problem.

Tone back the chance and luck. Save it for the best moments. Don’t make things easy on your characters. People who luck their way out of everything don’t grow, and frankly, are boring.

Fiction Writing Analysis & Example: Sean of the Dead

Remember in Sean of the Dead when Sean and his group are heading to the pub, and they run into Sean’s ex and her group of friends? That was a chance meeting. Logically, smart people familiar with the area would use the same unpopular escape routes and happen to meet up with each other along the way.

No information that saved the day was exchanged. No sacred items were passed or last messages left or dramatic rendezvous planned. It just so happened, two people who knew each other — but didn’t influence each others’ stories much — ran into each other. A chance meeting.

On the other hand, luck is when something that Sean and his friends needed happened to be in the right place at the right time, right when they needed it. While there are several moments throughout the film that could qualify, one obvious moment is the working gun at the Winchester saloon. After some dialogue earlier in the film about the rifle, as luck would have it, it was a ready-to-use weapon, with ammunition within reach.

Here, that lucky advantage is offset by a series of hilarious circumstances that oppose the characters and prevent them from taking advantage of the luck. None of the characters are willing or able to shoot the rifle. And once they figure out a method, a bumble with the ammunition quickly renders useless the most valuable, luckiest weapon they’ve come across.

This film is an example of good fiction writing keeping chance and luck believable, even in the most extreme of zombi-pocalypse circumstances. The plot moved forward through luck, then the luck was undermined; luck didn’t come through to save the day either. Although the writers had a chance to give the characters an advantage, they didn’t. They balanced good luck with bad, which kept the tension high in every scene.

The God Who Distributes Luck When It’s Not Needed

Fiction writers have the ability to distribute luck and chance on their characters at will, and often, many default to a position where they throw a lucky bone at a character in a moment of need. It’s trite — when will the character’s luck run out? The reader may begin to expect that nothing will happen to the character, which means nothing will happen in the plot. An overly lucky, unbelievable moment can throw a reader into a shrug and frustrated grunt, as they close the book or turn off their e-reader. 

Instead, be a different kind of fiction writer. Be the god who distributes luck when it’s not needed. Not in a malicious way, but when the character thinks they’ve found a solution, the lucky alternative presents itself. Or when your character is not looking for the chance encounter, it passes them by, but the reader sees it and understands what has just happened. 

Creating this kind of surprise interaction keeps the plot moving in fresh ways, and challenges the reader to guess what’s going to happen next, to keep up with the fun ride you’re taking them on. 

Keep your characters always needing something, and every lucky chance that presents itself getting them closer but not quite there, and you’ll keep your readers longing for more of the story of their eventual success. 

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On the Bechdel Test: Writing Tip for Gender

Bechdel test -- women and gender in fiction

As the origin story for the Bechdel Test goes, a political cartoon from the 1970s depicted two women discussing a movie they had seen. One says to the other that there are three things she looks for in a movie in order to qualify it as a “good” movie: 

1. There have to be at least two women in it. 
2. They have to talk to each other. 
3. About something other than a man.

This continues to stand true. It is now a common litmus test for the issue of gender equality representation in film, commonly known as the Bechdel Test.

In general, ladies, we are taught to converse about many things, especially things which relate to men and having relationships with them. As a woman, I’ve noticed this more and more. I’ve kept track of how women relate to one another and the topics they choose to discuss around the lunch table, the water cooler, and the backyard, as it were.

To See A Difference, Do Differently

When I write, I think specifically about the world that I am building for my characters. Who do they interact with? Who do they relate to? What supporting characters populate and color their world? And, more importantly, who do they speak to and what do they speak about?

When writing, you must give yourself constant mini-Bechdel test checkups, to ensure you’re considering the realistic relationship between characters. Recently, while working on writing a developing relationship between two co-lead female characters, I sat and made a list of what defines their friendship.

How long have they known each other? What bonding experiences did they have that drove them together? How do they each see the other? And, perhaps most importantly, what do they talk about?

I wrote out a list of conversation topics — things they had in common or disagree about and keep circling back around to — things that didn’t include men or relationships with them.

For example, one of the characters owns a successful family business, while the other is trying to learn how to launch her own business, so they are able to often talk about business strategies and nuances of their industry.

They are both interested in natural healing and non-chemical cures for ailments, so they discuss plants, herbs, flowers, and they mix ingredients together to create their own formulas, like amateur apothecaries.

They are both interested in the history of the area where they live, and so they are able to talk about and visit together, places of historical interest. Of course, they gossip about the latest news from the British Royals, and they gush over clothing and lipstick colors on each other as they hang out and try them on, but it’s important to me to make sure that their relationship is real, dimensional, and about more than just tragedies in their lives, men, and tragedies that involve men.

What might your characters bond over? Keep your ideas in a scrap heap until you’re building specific people in a specific world.

Focus on Female Characters' Interests

Every (significant) character should have hobbies and interests that make them a believable, well-rounded person. And this might be doubly-true for female characters; traditionally, they are not expected to be much more than props in literature, and although a century of work against that means that the greatest novels include rich, lively female characters, there is still work to be done to ensure that future generations of female readers see women they admire talking about things they’ve never considered before.

Ideas. Perspectives. Personality. If a young female reader is first introduced to the concept of astronauts through female characters, imagine how that might teach her that women are more than pretty — they are the next generation of leaders.

Consider: How do clothes affect your characters? What is important about what they wear?

Reverse Bechdel Test

Less commonly discussed is something I like to call the “reverse Bechdel” test. Just like you want to have a fleshed-out cast of female characters who bring their own knowledge and non-male-oriented agendas to the table, you also want to have well-rounded male characters who are more than women-hating or women-obsessed.

I encourage you to apply a Reverse Bechdel test to a scene where you have two or more men talking — if they’re talking about women, is it in gender stereotypical way? Push yourself to examine your male-to-male conversations and how they talk about the opposite gender. 

Writing Tip of the Day: Write Single-Gender Conversations for Bechdel Test Mastery

As a writing exercise, write a scene where a group of male characters are sitting around a male-comfortable space (like a barber shop, bar, street corner, etc.), talking over a subject. In particular, don’t have any of them bring up women, at all. Nobody comments on a woman’s appearance, no one complains about their relationship, nobody talks about anything sexual.

It might be easy, it might be hard — depending on the story you’re telling. But make sure that at some point, if you want to show strong male characters who are not simple tools of their hormones, show an intelligent conversation between men about a topic that is non-women related.

Additionally, write a scene in which a group of men is discussing women, and make it as honest as you can. To prevent the men from becoming blurred together and indistinguishable, develop their personalities by the ways they talk about women. What women are they talking about? Why? And how?

If you can show the men’s true characters in four or fewer statements about women, the reader will truly feel like they know and understand those characters in any other scenes in which they appear.

Then, challenge yourself to write similar scenes but using only female characters. This exercise may not be a traditional use or understanding of the Bechdel test, but practicing gendered perspectives will develop your overall skills as a writer, undoubtedly. 

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Apps to Make You a Better Writer

apps-better-write

Writer Apps Beyond Note Taking

If you’re a writer, you probably already have your favorite note taking apps or apps to help you manage your writing process. I’m not talking about those.

I’m talking about apps that, if you’re a day-in-and-day-out, I-work-with-words-every-moment-I’m-awake kind of writer, should improve your daily life.

** Note: these reviews are neither paid nor solicited and are my honest opinions after using these apps for at least one year each. I am not affiliated with the developers or anyone affiliated with them.

Writer App No. 1: Desk Stretch

I have carpal tunnel. It’s a constant thing. I wake up in pain, and I go to bed in pain, and I just try to manage it every moment between.

Desk Stretch helps me do that. Choose from a series of wrist and hand stretches, set a time interval, and let the app help ease the pain in your day. Every so often (I set mine for an hour), you’ll get a notification reminding you to break for 5 minutes. Then, the app leads you through the stretches, which can greatly reduce the tension that builds up throughout the day.

I used to have an app called “Handsaver” that was even better, but I can’t find it in the app store anymore. Moment of silence.

On Google Play

Writer App No. 2: Etymology Explorer

Why do we raise cows but eat beef? And we raise sheep but prepare mutton. But then, Why are fish and goat the same words for both the meat and the animal?

English is weird. Very weird sometimes. And, appropriately, it’s considered the most difficult language to learn, next to Mandarin.

Sometimes, as a writer, it can be helpful to look up the root origins of words. Because English is a Germanic language heavily influenced by French (which is Romantic – coming from ancient Roman, aka Latin) as well as the many localized languages absorbed around the world through trade and colonialism.

Consider: pyjamas is a Turkish word. But most English speakers never think where the words for their pjs came from. Of course, pjs aren’t the same as lingerie, which is a French word with different context. Although, if you were a non-native speaker, you might think, “Well. They both mean ‘sleep clothes’, right?”

Etymology Explorer is a writer app that helps you find out where words come from, and how they might be related to other words. Connections between pieces of language tell their own stories, and a picky writer learns how to choose words to layer storytelling into each sentence.

On Google Play

On iTunes

Writer App No. 3: Power Thesaurus

If you’ve written or edited more than a few hundred pages, you will have noticed the shortcomings of thesaurus.com.

Don’t get me wrong. It works fine most of the time. But maybe you’re looking for that $5 word, that esoteric, academic word; or maybe you’ve got a phrase that describes something, and you know there’s a single word for it, but you just can’t think of it; or maybe, you’ve got the feeling of the word you want, but nothing is quite hitting home.

(Is it just me? Am I the only person who battles the thesaurus this way? 🤯)

Power Thesaurus is a better app for writers. Especially if you have the time. As an open source software, it has its drawbacks, but overall it’s user friendly and never fails to provide hundreds of options for whatever you type in. The results are alphabetical, which can help you stumble across that “aha” moment if you have the time and patience to scroll through hundreds of synonyms in alphabetical order. (Beware of chasing the dragon: “the perfect one will be on the next page…”)

It also has an antonyms listing, and it’s easy to glide from one concept to the next.

On Google Play

On Apple Store

Writer App No. 4: Orphic

Orphic means fascinating or entrancing. And it is. This app is full of weird and wonderful words. What more can you ask for? This app offers a Word of the Day that is truly off the wall and an easy accessibility to search for quirky, elusively rare, and overly precise words. Say no more.

On Google Play

Boost Writing Power, Boost Productivity

The golden state of productivity is a daily dream. A humming moment of focus, when the muse sits on your shoulder and the words appear on the page with very little effort. It’s sublime.

I hope these suggestions of apps for writers can help you get there.

Editing makes me happy.

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Decision Making & Writing Your Novel

plan and outline your fiction novel by thinking through every decision

Planning your novel

You have an idea for a novel — that’s great. Now, putting together a plan for it can help you actually see it through and make it everything you hope it can be.

Planning a novel requires conscious decision making. You’re creating a world. You’re creating lives. You’re creating realities. It’s serious business. (Better put on your kill-em-dead lipstick now.)

One way to make decisions while outlining, designing characters, and choosing the aspects of your novel’s reality: consider the question that Jeff Bezos asks himself:

Is this a reversible or irreversible decision?

With this straightforward question, you should be able to help prioritize the decision-making and better structure your plot, themes, and symbolism.

If it’s a reversible decision . . .

Simple decisions can be made quickly and changed later if necessary. Can the decision be reversed? or altered, even? Then make it quickly and get on with whatever you’re writing.

For example: You want to write a scene where two lovers are having a spat a restaurant. You ask yourself, “Well, is it an Italian or Mexican restaurant?”

Does it matter to the plot of the story? Is it something you can tweak later? Then don’t trip. Pick one and write the scene with the appropriate details – delicious menu items, atmosphere, pertinent dialogue.

Now, be wary. Don’t begin writing off all questions with, “Well, I can always change this later.” You will begin to overcomplicate your plot, and multiple revisions can and will lead to inconsistencies.

If it’s an irreversible decision . . .

Decisions with lasting effects should be given some consideration and development. Will this decision affect the story in more ways than one? Will it somehow trigger a domino effect in a web of tangled plot threads that you don’t want to see unravel?

For example: You want a character to stand out for her looks because of a scar or birthmark on her face. Then, in one scene, you attempt to put her in disguise without mentioning how that distinguishing characteristic is covered. If no one recognizes her and she isn’t caught, the reader will see the plot hole.

Choosing a physical feature or personality trait for a character (or setting) is irreversible unless you show why that character has changed.

If you portray and describe a father-figure character as nurturing and receptive, that is an irreversible and defining characteristic that the reader will expect to stay consistent, unless given reason to believe in the change.

Choosing a profession, hobby, or area of expertise for a character carries its own burdens of verisimilitude. The reader will lose belief in your characters (and you) if they don’t seem to know much about their own job descriptions, the fashion of their profession, the details of their so-called interests, or the social discussions of topics they mention.

Don’t say a character is a veterinarian merely so your character can have “a job.” If you’re going to make your character a medical doctor of veterinary medicine – someone who has dedicated years of their life to the study and care of a range of animals – you need to show personality characteristics and lifestyle choices that align with that job.

There’s nothing like reading a character who is supposed to be a social worker, or cop, or a teacher, and being able to tell that the writer has no clue what someone in that profession does.

🌹 🌹 🌹

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3 Questions to Focus Your Writing Time

3 questions to focus writing & manage time

The Power of Focused Writing Time

Focus. The elusive trait that is tied to success or failure, to production or abandonment, to clarity or confusion.

Focus.

Can you do it? How do you do it? What does focused attention really look like, for you?

These are rhetorical questions. Oprah gets it. A remarkably successful businesswoman, Oprah knows that foucs is a nearly impossible intangible to harness, but when leveraged, there’s nearly nothing more powerful in any endeavor.

Recently, I read that Oprah begins every meeting with 3 questions. This pattern not only provides predictability for everyone — on all of her multiple entrepreneurial, production, and management teams — but it also brings incredible clarity to each of her interactions that support the meetings.

When I read it, I thought, “Well that’s great. For people who have meetings and are bringing together multiple people and projects.” Sounds like it works well in business. But:

  • What if you’re a writer?
  • What if you hold regularly scheduled, work-focused meetings with yourself?

The truth is though — it doesn’t matter. The Queen of Media began her reign as a professional communicator, and the questions that she uses to focus her team to maximize their efficiency are the same questions that anyone can use in good communication — even with themselves.

How to Save Time and Write More

There are only-so-many hours in the day. There are only-so-many words you can put down in the limited time you have to write. Since the days of etching into clay and stone tablets, writers have struggled with efficient documentation.

Whether you schedule time to write or write on the fly, write efficiently by asking yourself the same questions at the beginning of your writing session that Oprah asks to kick off her meetings:

  1. What is the intention?
  2. What’s important?
  3. What matters?

1. Focus: What is Your Intention?

dedicate to focused writing time for better writingWhat is your intention during this writing interval? Are you intending to plot the action of a specific scene? Do you intend to brainstorm on a particular character description? Do you intend to tackle a particular difficult dialogue exchange? Are you dedicated to revising a previous draft of a chapter for more powerful verb choice?

By choosing a specific outcome to focus on during your writing time, you can drive yourself toward a particular goal — be it stronger poetic description, discussing gender in a chapter, the conclusion of a scene, or if you write until all the ideas are out of your head.

Your intention may change. Your focus may shift. When it does, preset yourself with the same three questions to take on a new goal or topic.

2. Focus: What's Important?

Once you’ve chosen a specific scene, character, dialogue, chapter – even when you want to focus in on a particular sentence – ask yourself what’s important.

If the most important part of your writing time is merely to get the word count on the page, you’re selling yourself short, cutting off your potential, shooting yourself in the foot … etc.

The importance will vary. Sometimes, the scene will need more details. Sometimes, the important thing about the dialogue will be that it needs to convey the right emotions. Sometimes, the paragraphs or sentences in the chapter will need to be reorganized and reordered to better connect ideas in a way that makes sense.

tips from oprah to focus your writing time; tips to write better

Sometimes, what will be important is making it shorter; other times it will be important to elaborate or clarify and make it longer. But if you focus on “word count” or “length” as your sole focus for the writing period, you’re missing out on attending to what really will improve your craft.

You should focus on the most important thing first. You know your intention for your writing time, and once you choose what’s important, it only makes sense to tackle it first.

3. Focus: What Matters?

While it sounds the same as “What’s important?”, use this third question to focus your writing time by examining your own writing from a slightly different angle.

You’re focused on a particular scene, character, plot point, etc., and you’ve looked at what’s important to move toward the outcome you’ve set as a goal, so now, critically, ask yourself:

If this were removed, how would it change the bigger picture? If the reader never knew this ‘important’ detail, or you hadn’t ordered the scenes in this way, would it make a difference to the overall story? Would it ‘matter’ in the world of your characters?

Your knee-jerk reaction may be to say, “Of course it matters! I’m the writer, and I put it there, so it matters!”

But, dear Writers, I tell you – and not without some regret – that effectively, the author is dead (long live the Author!). When you release your creation into the world, your intention does not matter.

Whatever story you think you’re telling is only as real as what the reader interprets from what you’ve written.

So I ask you again – what matters in the world of your characters?

If you take the time to polish the word choice of a particular section, because you want to show distinctly the characters’ thoughts on class and society, then also consider – why?

Is the character motivated by status? Is the world highly structured, or wildly unstructured according to class or arbitrary social divisions or unity? Is there some reason the dialogue takes places between these characters, at this point in the story, in this particular setting?

(I mean – if the conversation could take place in a hallway or a park and be the same words, is it really the same conversation, though?)

If you can honestly begin to analyze scenes, characters, dialogue, order of ideas, and word choice and answer, “Yes! It matters, and here’s why!“, then Congratulations. You have successfully evaded a number of plot holes and inconsistencies, and you’ve probably established a very believable world with personable characters that readers can relate to.

Job well done.

Now you've got focus. Ready to Edit?

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Creative Fiction Writing: The Importance of Animals in World Building

using animals in fiction world building -- fiction and novel writing tips

Most creative fiction writing (and nonfiction books) revolve around and portray human life. Typically, people are a big part of people’s lives and the world we live in.

You know what else makes up your world? Animals. A lot of them.

Write a Realistic, Creative Fiction World

From pets to pigeons in the park to sneaky spiders slinking along behind your refrigerator while you sleep, life is full of creatures. Don’t neglect adding them into your stories for action, rich description, and a change of pace.

Why do animals matter? Where do they fit in your story?

Animals add texture, sounds, tastes, smells, and characterization to a story, and they can fit into nearly any scene.

Writing Animals Exercise 1: Pets

If your character owns a pet, consider not only how the ownership of the pet enhances the human’s characterization, but consider how the animal itself becomes a separate character. Pets have emotions, respond to and interact with their humans, and add something to human life. Not only will your character reveal what type of person they are by how they treat their pet, but the big picture of their life or their society can be shown through the thoughts, actions, choices, or personality of their pet(s).

Consider how the pet will affect the person’s life constantly—dog hair woven into every article of clothing that the character deals with throughout their day, or a cat who marks your character’s suit jacket and although the suit’s been drycleaned, the smell sticks to him. Consider how people with pets often rearrange their schedules, priorities, and finances to accommodate these animals.

Writing Animals Exercise 2: Meals

If your character is an omnivore, consider how animals—the sight, smell, taste, or thought of them—affect their meals. If vegetarian or vegan, your character may be very consciously aware of the presence of animals during mealtime.

Whatever their food preferences, you as the writer can consider how the presence or absence of animals during mealtimes shapes your characters.

Writing Animals Exercise 3: Outdoors

And, depending on location, consider indigenous animals that give zest to places around the world. In some cities, monkeys swing through trees, or parrots fly overhead, or oxen are a common sight. As natural and unassuming as the wind, animals give life to the world.

No matter where your character goes—except maybe in space—there will be animals. In the fields, there are insects chirping, birds flying overhead, and snakes slithering underfoot. In the city, there are rodents that scamper along building walls (remember: squirrels are rodents too!), and neighbors who keep strange exotic pets.

Creative fiction does not need to be in a “real” world, but it does need to be realistic. If realistic, your fiction writing will be believable. A written world is not a believable world if it disregards animals.  

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The Importance of Writing in Space

writing-space

Your whole novel takes place in your head. As easy as it can be to forget that fact, you (dear, Writers), must remember that your reader cannot get into your head and see where people are moving around. You must keep in mind how you’re writing in space that the reader must follow you through.

While it seems obvious that the events you narrate in your novel must take place in some space, it can be amazingly easy to forget. With a line of summarizing transition, you can seamlessly sweep a character across a room or a galaxy. But in reality, the reader’s mind can’t always keep up. The reader can get lost in the jump.

Poor descriptions of space can leave your reader lost in the character’s house, bumping into walls or walking through them. You can even leave your reader at another location when you forget to mention that the character got out of the car, or left the lakeside, or went into the casino.

Writing tip of the day: Remember to write in space

Write the space into your scene, and write the characters in that space. It doesn’t mean you have to describe every step they take through their entire journey, but it does mean that, like a film director setting up a shot, you need to create an atmosphere around your characters based on their interactions with the spaces in their lives.

It does mean that you need to make sure that the room stays consistent and that the reader moves with the character. Think of it like a camera lens — as the writer, you are like a film director. It is the director’s job to see what the viewer is going to see: that is why they stand behind the camera or watch the viewing screen during filming; it’s why they oversee the special effects; it’s why they make their first cut along with the editors.

As a novelist, you get to do one better; you get to put your readers into the minds of your characters. You put the reader into their memory, into their history, into their desires. The director (and the screenwriter) is limited (always) to the exterior, but the novelist goes where no one else can: into the heart. This is why writing in space is so important.

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The Importance of Research in Writing

research-writing

If you are wrong about something obvious, people notice. That is why research in writing is essential. People will call you out for inaccuracy in your book. They will remember at the end of your book that there were unforgivable mistakes, and if they review your book at all, they will let others know. Worse, they won’t read anything else you write.

Cringe-Worthy Editing Mistakes

I’ll never forget, as a teenage reader working my way through a Stephen King novel, when the character turned on the radio to hear a song from the band “Arrowsmith.” Or when, as a younger editor, I was stumped over how to rewrite a vital scene in a novel that incorporated a mechanical garage door and motorized trucks into something happening in the 1870s.

Of course, it is the duty of a good editor to catch anachronisms, misspellings of real-world locations and people, or factual inaccuracies. But you will make your writing stronger and your editing process simpler by confirming these easily-Googleable things yourself

Writing Tip of the Day: Perform a round of fact-checking edits.

Research in writing and editing can should be its own step. Once the bulk of your manuscript is written and you’ve performed a round of line edits and edits for consistency and style, read through the entire thing again and make notes to yourself about (or highlight) things that need to be confirmed. Then, work your way backward, from end to beginning, and address only the items you’ve commented on.

Some things to keep in mind to confirm:

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Spelling of real-world locations, people, technology, documents, texts, companies, and other nonfiction stuff.

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Historical and geographic accuracy. Confirm that you’re not placing anachronisms into your text, especially if it’s historical fiction. Make sure that buildings or bridges (or roads or monuments) were built by the year of your novel; make sure that you don’t introduce technology before it existed; make sure that characters in your setting realistically have access to items mentioned — like an architectural design, a plant in the environment, or a design of clothing.

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If you describe the details of any business or technological process, you’ll need to confirm the exact spelling and usage of tools, technology, and references. Even if you describe the cursory elements of something complex, check all your information.

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Quotes. If you quote from a real-life person, book, or film, or especially from the Bible, you’ll want to check your exact wording and reference. If you’re paraphrasing, don’t use quotation marks, because the reader expects that with quotation marks comes exact wording.

You can't skip the research in writing

I mean, I guess you can. But then, expect to pay more for a thorough edit. Because your editor will do the research for you. So ultimately, the research can’t be skipped.

A good editor should always help the writer avoid looking foolish, and there is no quicker way to make both the writer and editor look foolish than a correction that could have been made after a two-second search online.

Chances are, even when you perform this fact-check round of edits yourself, you will miss information that seems common sense or automatic to you. An editor who really is working for you and your best interest won’t let that missed information make its way to the reader.

So that’s my second writing tip of the day: find yourself an editor who truly works for you and the best interest of your manuscript. You won’t regret it.

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