You finally finished writing your book. There’s a glimmer of hope that the end is near.
It’s time to pass your rough draft on to an editor to clean it up, right?
Not so fast.
Have you revised it yourself yet?
Say, what?!
The Hard Part of Writing a Book
What a lot of bestselling authors and writing coaches will tell you is the hard part of writing a book is not writing the book.
The hard part is rewriting your book.
If you want to avoid embarrassing mistakes and a choppy flow that screams amateur, hiring a professional editor is a must. But professional editing can be expensive. And some editors don’t even accept rough drafts.
By self-editing and rewriting, you can seriously keep your editing costs down.
An editor may quote you less because it will take less work to polish your draft. Or, your editor can use her energy to focus on making your book powerful, intriguing, and an amazing read because she’s not focused on all the big glaring errors you already caught.
5 Questions to Ask Before You Send It to an Editor
So, how do you know if it’s time to hire an editor or not?
Here are 5 compelling questions you should ask yourself to revise your book before sending it to an editor:
1. How long ago did I write this?
Let the clock tick at least 24 hours before revising your writing. For shorter writing, like blogs and articles, 24–48 hours is enough for most people. For ebooks and novels, allowing 1–2 weeks before revising is helpful.
This allows your eyes and brain to see what’s actually written, rather than filling in the missing gaps or repetitive words.
2. How does it sound?
Read it aloud to yourself or use a program (such as Adobe Reader) that will read it to you. Don’t just skim in your head, but actually read it aloud, slowly, to yourself.
This will help you recognize if you accidently typed “the the,” shared the same story twice, or typed “diversity” instead of “adversity.”
3. What’s the big idea?
Make your main point crystal clear in your mind. As you reread your book, make sure each part contributes to the big idea.
You may eliminate big chunks of text in this step, which is okay, because it will make your writing better for your audience.
This is why you should edit for the overall structure of your piece before sending it to an editor for a line edit, copyedit, or proofread. What’s the point of polishing up paragraphs of text that you’ll later realize doesn’t fit the big idea in your story?
That is wasted time and money for you.
4. What does my audience need to know?
Cut the fluff.
As you reread your writing, ask yourself: What is extra information the reader doesn’t need to know? Where do I ramble on and on, and where do I repeat myself?
Keep in mind the short attention span of most readers these days.
Creating a clear picture in your mind of who your audience member is will help you better determine what your readers need to know, and what’s just fluff. Hopefully, you created an image of a reader while writing your piece, but if not, do it now!
5. How does each line read?
Read each line to correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling to the best of your knowledge.
Yes, we are finally to “editing.”
Take note of your comfort words—those words you tend to use every few sentences. It may be “just,” “actually,” or “very.” Eliminate or replace a bunch of them as long as it doesn’t alter your intended meaning.
Self-Editing Before Professional Editing
After trudging through these five questions and steps of revising, you should have a significantly better draft of your book. This is good news for you, potentially your wallet, and definitely for your audience.
After you’ve asked yourself these questions and worked through your piece to rewrite at least once, then it could be time to bring in a professional editor.
You’ll be amazed how much more an editor will find to consider deleting, restructuring, or altering. Don’t take it personally.
And because of your rewriting, the book you have after the professional editing phase will be a masterpiece.
You’ll hardly recognize it at the end—and that’s a good thing.
Let’s face it, most of us are capable of writing far better than our first draft.
When you invest time revising before hiring a professional editor, you are ultimately investing in your reputation and your authority, and enhancing the product and information you share with the world.
Now’s time to practice.
Which step of self-editing do you find most difficult? Let me know in the comments.
PRACTICE
Today, find an old piece you wrote, but never self-edited. Ask yourself the five questions we discussed to revise it. Read it aloud. Ensure every piece connects to the big idea. Take out the fluff. Improve the grammar and remove some of your comfort words.
Work on these steps for at least fifteen minutes, then post your most improved section in the comments below.
Go ahead and comment on other people’s writing too. You greatly help our writer’s community when you put yourself out there and give encouragement to those who are practicing to better their writing—and rewriting.
The relationship between a writer and his/her editor might be stormy, to say the least 😛
It’s a matter of trust, I guess.
Andy, it’s definitely a relationship that requires lots of clear communication to build trust and make sure both parties of the relationship are satisfied. It can be challenging to let someone in and alter your work.
The hardest part of editing for me is not to self-edit as I draft. I’m a pantser, and I tend to wanna do everything at once, which slows down my writing and cuts the flow, sometimes completely. I have tons of seamless odds and ends of perfect, self-edited, twice rewritten writing, most of them very short, and none of them a completed work in its own right. :/
I’ve done this self-editing all my life, but I’m starting to get a mental nudge that says, “Quit this. It’s counter-productive.”
Hi Rubis, Sounds like it’s a challenge for you to even get a full draft done, much less working through self-editing. I wonder if it’d be helpful for you to pick one of your projects to focus on and finish. Get a messy but completed draft out on paper/computer, then let it sit (step one above). Probably a few days at least for you, so you can then work through a thorough edit, instead of constant little tweaks. Can you pick one that you’re eager to finish?
I’ve tried to pare it down, but welcome suggestions.
One afternoon Lynn and Millie were enjoying tea and scones at a local tea shop and Lynn was sharing the latest news. “Have you heard that June’s daughter Tiffany is finally getting married?”
“Yes, I have. At the flea market last Saturday June was telling her sister Debbie all about her daughter’s fiancé,” Millie replied. “She’s bubbling over with it all! He sounds like a real catch.”
“Seems like it. I heard Tiffany’s telling everyone she’s found the PERFECT MAN,” Lynn spread jam on her scone. “She claims it’s a match made in heaven. I’m afraid she’ll soon learn that there’s no such thing as a perfect man.”
An older gent at the next table leaned over and said, “Forgive me, ladies, for eaves-dropping, but I’d like to correct your false impression. There is indeed such a thing as a perfect man.”
Millie’s eyes grew round. “Oh, really!” She and Lynn exchanged a look, eyebrows arched.
“I suppose you’ve carried off the trophy,” Lynne teased.
“Oh, no. Not at all. I am a very imperfect specimen myself — or so I’m told.”
Lynn frowned. “So this perfect man is someone you know?”
“No, I barely knew him. Wish now I had. I only shook hands with him a few times, chatted a bit, you know. He seemed quite ordinary then; I never guessed what a saint he was. He’s passed away, resting in peace, I’m sure, but his merits are lifted up to me frequently these days.”
“Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” said Millie. “Who was this man?”
The gentleman let out a longsuffering sigh. “He was my wife’s first husband.”
Wow, thanks for sharing, Christine! You kept me in suspense until the surprise ending. Didn’t see that one coming. 🙂 The only suggestion that came to mind was sometimes the dialogue is even more believable when it’s not all complete sentences, especially during the first half of your excerpt. It depends on your characters though and how you want them to talk. I’m informal when I talk, but tend to write more formally. Something to think about with dialogue. I appreciate how you showed the scene through your words. I could picture it all, so you described it well. How was your self-editing experience?
Glad I kept it a surprise. I simply wrote a new scenario for an older story with that punch line.
As to self-editing, you change lines, then wonder if you’ve improved it or muddied the waters. I read one time that when you start reversing changes you’ve made, putting it back the way it was originally, it’s time to quit. So when I caught myself doing a few of these reverses I heeded that advice and quit.
I haven’t done a lot of writing recently, so I dug out a story I wrote back in grade three at school and edited that. Here’s chapter one. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 1: The Mystery Begins
One day Frederic the museum owner woke up, walked to his museum and gasped. “Someone has stolen my lovely diamond!” he exclaimed. He went to the police station. Police Officers Ben and Dan were on guard there when he walked in. “Excuse me officers,” Frederic said politely. “I just wanted to inform you that someone has stolen my lovely diamond!” “Okay we’ll get on to that case right away,” Officer Dan said.
Then Chief I-Don’t-Know-Anything came out. “Hello, Chief I-Don’t-Know-Anything” said Officers Ben and Dan. “What’s the case, officers?” said Chief I-Don’t-Know-Anything. “The diamond was stolen at the museum,” Ben said.
“OK.”
The officers got in a car and went straight to the house of Matilda Smith, the greatest burglar in town. “Matilda, where’s the diamond? You know what we’re talking about!” Ben said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Matilda argued. “Do to.” “Do not.” “Do to.” “Do not.” “OK you’re going to court.” “Am not.” “Am to.” “Am not.” “Am to.” “Am not.” While they were arguing Officer Dan handcuffed Matilda Smith. “Hey!” Matilda squeaked. Everyone got in the car and went to the police station.
A few days later it was court day. It was Frederic vs. Matilda: who will win? They were arguing. “I got given that diamond from Brendan Smith!” Frederic argued. “Brendan Smith is my father!” Matilda argued back. “Silence in the court!” Judge Trevor said, “Matilda Smith is guilty.” “But I didn’t steal the diamond,” Matilda protested. “Did to,” Officer Ben shouted from the audience. “Did not.” “Did to.” “Did not.” “Silence in the court!” Judge Trevor banged his hammer on the table. Suddenly Chief I-Don’t-Know-Anything walked in. “Matilda Smith is guilty!” he said. Everyone turned around and gasped. “Okay then, tell us the story if you were a witness,” Officer Ben said, still angry from arguing with Matilda Smith. “Well…” Chief I-don’t-know-anything started. “Last Thursday evening I was walking to the police station when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I turned around and saw footprints on the road where I had not been walking. I followed the footprints all the way to the museum. Then, out of the blue I saw Matilda Smith crawling up the wall onto the roof. Then I heard a SMASH! And Matilda wasn’t on the roof anymore. Suddenly, I saw her come out with the diamond.” “Arrest her!” Judge Trevor called. Matilda Smith was put in jail.
Thanks for sharing your edited chapter, James! There was definitely an argument theme going on in this chapter. 🙂 Hope you enjoyed going back to an old story and revisiting it.
When I wrote my seven-novel series, I must have ‘self-edited’ it at least a dozen times. I’d probably still be at it if my editor hadn’t convinced me that it was far past time to deliver the baby.
The hardest part for me is letting go.
All Good Things,
Jesse.
http://www.jesseleighbrackstone.com
For sure, Jesse! I bet a lot of us writers and editors can relate to that. And especially with something as big as a seven-novel series! Perfectionism comes to mind. Without deadlines, I’d probably keep tweaking things over and over as well. Sometimes, we need those people in our life to tell us it’s time to let go and it’s good enough 🙂 Thanks for commenting.
In my experience, humans are not capable of perfection, Val, so I aim for satisfaction. I have yet to achieve that feeling regarding my own work, but I do gain enormous satisfaction when my readers write to tell me how pofounly a story has impacted their lives. It took me ten years to write the Time & Unforeseen Occurrence series, and comments like those make it all worthwhile. The same is true of my music, although I must admit to feeling a sense of completion and satisfaction with most of my songs. Writing novels is different, it seems, at least for me.
Blessings to you!
Jesse.
http://www.jesseleighbrackstone.com
This is a bit long, but it’s a screenplay, so it reads pretty fast (I hope). I wrote this over the summer and haven’t looked at it since. It’s called “Coffee Date”. Reviews are always appreciated!
INT. – COFFEE SHOP, NOON
The coffee shop is a trendy, upscale establishment. Through the large windows we see a busy city street. The shop is bustling with all kinds of people – hipsters, students, office workers on their coffee breaks. A BUSINESS WOMAN and a BUSINESS MAN enter, in the midst of an argument.
BUSINESS MAN
-but I’m just saying, Harry is not the right man for the job, he doesn’t have the people skills. I think Bob is making a huge mistake.
Business Woman shrugs meekly.
BUSINESS WOMAN
Maybe, but Harry has been with the company longer than you.
Business Man huffs in exasperation.
BUSINESS MAN
Why can’t you ever take my side?
BUSINESS WOMAN
Sorry.
She rubs his arm soothingly.
BUSINESS WOMAN
I’m sure something else will come up soon.
BUSINESS MAN
It had better, with all the work I’ve sunk into this project. This team wouldn’t have made this much progress without me.
They get on line. A young woman enters the shop, an ARTIST. Tattoos peek out from under the rolled sleeves of her paint splattered denim shirt. Hands are smudged with charcoal, pencil. Old messenger bag slung across her chest. She gets in line behind Business Woman and Business Man.
BUSINESS WOMAN
My dad called this morning. He and Mom have booked a room for next weekend.
BUSINESS MAN
(laughing) What’s the least amount of time we can get away with spending with them?
Business Woman tries not to look hurt.
BUSINESS WOMAN
I do like my parents, babe.
BUSINESS MAN
God, both of them could talk my ear off, your mother especially now that she’s getting so forgetful. Just don’t let them come back to the apartment after dinner, we’ll never get them to leave.
Artist is eavesdropping. She deliberately steps on heel of the Business Man’s shoe. He yelps and turns around.
BUSINESS MAN
Watch it!
ARTIST
(nonplussed) Sorry.
Business Man turns back the other way with huff of indignation. Artist catches the Business Woman’s eye and winks. Business Woman starts, blushes, looks away. She and the Business Man are finally at the head of the line. The BARISTA looks at them expectantly.
BUSINESS MAN
Skinny soy latte.
Barista writes this on a cup holder and looks at Business Woman.
BUSINESS WOMAN
A caramel macchiato and a cherry Danish, please.
BUSINESS MAN
So much for that diet.
He goes to far end of counter to wait for his drink. Barista scribbles Business Woman’s coffee order on a cup holder, grabs a sheet of tissue paper to get Danish from display case.
BUSINESS WOMAN
Actually, never mind about that Danish. Sorry.
She hurries to end of counter to join her boyfriend. Artist is next in line. She glances in the Business Woman’s direction. Business Woman stands meekly next to Business Man while they wait for their drinks. Her head is hanging slightly. Decisively, Artist looks at Barista.
ARTIST
Can I get a cherry Danish?
At end of counter, Business Man and Woman receive their drinks. Business Man immediately hands her his coffee.
BUSINESS MAN
Find us somewhere to sit. I have to use the john.
He walks in direction of bathroom. Business Woman takes their coffees to a table for two and sits. She puts her boyfriend’s drink across from her. She cradles her cup in her hands, looks around. She notices Artist walking past her, smiles ruefully seeing Artist is carrying plate with cherry Danish. Artist sits at another table, directly in Business Woman’s line of sight. In other hand she has a second, empty plate and extra fork and napkin. She sets second place at her table. Business Woman watches, interested. Artist looks up, makes eye contact, smiles. Business Woman, embarrassed, smiles back briefly, opens purse. Artist waves frantically to keep her attention. Business Woman stops rummaging in purse, watches as Artist cuts Danish in half with fork, puts one half on empty plate, puts the plate at second place setting. She smiles at Business Woman. Business Woman smiles back, touched. She mouths, “Thank you.” Artist shrugs. She spears forkful of her own piece, holds it up, eyebrows raised. Business Woman laughs quietly, shakes her head. Artist eats bite herself, slumps down in chair, fluttering eyelashes dramatically. Business Woman laughs. Artist sits up, laughs. They look into each other’s eyes, smiling. Business Woman scoots back chair, starts to get up. Just then, Business Man comes back from bathroom. She quickly sits down again. Business Man drops into his seat, immediately picks up his coffee, takes out his smartphone. Business Woman sighs. She looks over at Artist. Artist shakes head. Business Woman shrugs. Artist’s eyes light up. She puts down her fork, takes out a sketchbook and pencil from bag. She draws, shooting glances up at Business Woman. Business Woman points at herself questioningly. Artist smiles, nods. Business Woman blushes, ducks head, tucks strand of hair behind ear. Artist holds up hand, silently communicating, “Hold that pose”. Business Woman complies. Artist’s pencil flies over paper.
BUSINESS WOMAN
What time is it?
BUSINESS MAN
12:36.
BUSINESS WOMAN
(loudly) So we only have a few minutes before our break is over.
She gives Artist significant look. Artist nods, draws faster.
BUSINESS MAN
Well I’m almost done. You’ve barely touched your coffee.
BUSINESS WOMAN
Oh, I can drink it back at the office.
Artist continues drawing. Business Man finishes his coffee, gets up to throw it away. Artist finishes. Takes a moment to look at work, nods approval. Tears page out of sketchbook, puts things away. Gets up, walks towards door. As she passes Business Woman’s table, she puts paper down. Their eyes meet for a moment. Artist continues on her way, leaves the shop. Business Woman picks up the paper, gasps. Drawing is rough, but very good. It depicts her, sitting under a cherry tree. She’s barefoot, her shirtsleeves rolled up. She looks happy. Business Man returns.
BUSINESS MAN
Come on, let’s go.
Business Woman ignores him, still looking at sketch. In corner is Artist’s signature – she has her name now.
BUSINESS MAN
Callie, let’s go! Callie! Callie?
Business Woman ignores him, staring at sketch, biting her lip. She has a choice to make.
Thank you for sharing your screenplay. It did read fast because it was engaging. Well-written. I could picture the whole coffee shop scene. Did you find yourself revising much after revisiting this piece several months later?
I mostly had to edit for format. The first drafts of my screenplays sound a lot like prose, so I go back in and condense.
That’s terrific. I want the whole story!
From a piece titled “Doing What Needs to be Done,” started and abandoned in 2004.
So much of our life seems to be scheduled. When was the last time you simply looked around and noticed what needed to be done? Often we talk about the importance of learning to just “be,” becoming human beings rather than human-doings. Perhaps it’s more a case of doing without being present in the doing. When all of our time is scheduled, we might notice, as we are rushing out the door to work, or to the next appointment, or the urgent errand that simply must get done today. We might notice the snow that needs to be removed from the walk – or we might not notice. Either way, it is not sufficient to interrupt our schedule for the day. Or, how about noticing the expression on your child’s face when she returns from school? Rather than asking, “How was your day?” we see the need for a hug and, with full attention and presence, do that.
What if we could simply notice those things in our surroundings that need attention and attend to them in that moment. It’s a very different form of doing. We are doing what needs to be done. We are living in the moment. We are honoring our path as it is revealed to us, not controlling every minute of our day until no time is left to know who we are and why we are here.
Great piece, drjeane! The part about noticing your child’s face when she returns from school hit home for me. Thanks for sharing your piece.
Thank you, Val. I deeply appreciation your comments. In choosing this piece, I wondered about my desire to write more fiction rather than reflective pieces like this one. Perhaps my answer is within this – allow what needs to be expressed in the moment and don’t worry about which direction it is taking.
Wow .. Thanks for this, this is really helpful.
I Actually did this before on chapter 1 of my fantasy story. But not yet on next chapter… It’ll take 2 months to revise it. I Already have 4 chapters, and every chapter will take 1 week or more before you finish reading it.
Nice post. This is solid advice everyone should do after finish their first and even second draft. Timely for me too as I’m stuck in editing hell right now 🙂
Val is my personal editor at kindlepreneur, and she is the best I’ve found. Major help on the team. I’d definitely recommend hiring her if you need an affordable but stellar edit of your book.
I hate this part of writing …..
Aww, this is my favorite part of writing. I get to take my work and make it awesome! Often I read a book or watch a movie and think, “It would have been better if….” Editing my own work is the ONLY time my opinion counts in such matters!
What a great way to look at this issue. I will try to be more positive about this part of writing. Thanks!