Self-Editing

Here's what you should be looking out for when self-editing:

• Reporting (telling) instead of showing us live action as it happens to your characters.
• Protagonists not having agency, so things happen to them because of others or because of chance; it’s their own decisions and actions that should drive the plot.
• Starting too early in a story and showing too much ‘status quo’ before we get to the inciting event.
• Chunks of exposition that would be better removed or distributed through the text more subtly.
• Spending too long on elements that don’t contribute to the storyline or characterisation.
• Telling the story too distantly and therefore not sufficiently investing your reader in the characters.
• Trying to show the story from too many different viewpoints ... Whose story is this? Whose chapter or scene is this? Why? Work it out and then stick to your decision.
• Words such as just, really, rather, quite, slightly, actually, and especially then and now; cut these as much as possible. Then is often redundant because the chronology is implied by describing one action followed by another.
• Remove filter words: identify instances where you can delete she knew ..., he felt …, it seemed … to write more directly and powerfully in a character’s head.Repetition of the subject in a sentence with multiple clauses, unless for emphasis. It is best to use as few words as necessary.
• Confusion between they’re, there and their, and words such as wave/waive, rein/reign.
• Spelling compound words like postcard or goodbye inconsistently – as two words here and one word there. Check the dictionary for which words are open compounds (two words, such as no one), closed (one word) and which are hyphenated words. For the rules on hyphenation, see New Hart’s Rules (OUP).
  If in doubt whether a word takes an initial capital, the rule is only to capitalise it if it’s an actual (proper) name. Seasons, for example, don’t take a capital: spring is not the same as Paul.
• Ensure there’s a hard page break at the end of each chapter. Use a header with your name and the title. Number your pages.

If you’re going to submit your work to a publisher or commission a freelance editor, why should you spend much time and effort on your own editing? Here are some points to consider: 
 

• The more professional your work, the more likely it is that a literary agent or publisher’s commissioning editor will want it
  ‘Professional’ means a lot of things, but a cohesive narrative arc, effective writing style, ‘showing not telling’ in all the right places (for hints, see the self-editing tips at the end of this section) and finding the best characters to tell a gripping story are significant. Sometimes the character who starts off telling the story is too tangential, and you might decide someone who makes more decisions that propel the plot forward is a better choice. Or sometimes the personality who is close to the main character is able to lend greater depth and perspective to their story – think of Dr Watson rather than Sherlock Holmes, or Hastings in the Agatha Christie novels rather than Poirot. Equally important is near-perfect presentation, with consistent formatting, use of vocative commas (a clear flag that you know what you’re doing) and smooth yet illuminating prose. Not only does such professionalism make the manuscript better, but it also demonstrates to your intended recipient that you take your writing seriously – which is Number Two on their Wanted list, after the quality of the book.
   
• If you’re publishing independently, everything depends on you
  Make sure every element you can control is as good as it can be. Using a professional editor for your book is essential and, just as with a commissioning editor, they too will respond well to a manuscript that bears the hallmarks of self-editing and will be motivated to do a superior job for you. Editors sigh when they receive a manuscript where the author has obviously just dashed off a first draft and hit Send. And if they’re having to spend time pointing out basic problems, they’re not focusing on areas where some input might make your novel really shine. This is particularly the case with critiques, where there is only space to explore the most obvious drawbacks to a work. The more work you’ve invested yourself, the less editors will need to do, and this should affect both the original rate you’re charged, especially with copy-editing, and the number of edits of each kind. If you are an independent author wishing to self-publish, editing will be one of your major outlays – so everything you can do to reduce the cost makes sense.
   
• Self-editing pays off when entering competitions
  Writers don’t always reach out to an editor if they’re entering their work in writing competitions, although the rules rarely prohibit this and it can make a big difference; even a critique really helps, as authors can get too close to their work. Yet if you’re developing your self-editing skills, then this can be where hard work really pays off. I’m a keen advocate of entering writing competitions; it’s hugely motivating to submit a piece of writing you’ve worked on, whatever the outcome. It helps develop your professionalism too, making you pay attention to presentation requirements, word counts and deadlines. As the facilitator of both the Margery Allingham Short Mystery Prize (www.thecwa.co.uk/ma) and the CWA’s Debut Dagger competition, every year I notice that it’s the work which has been polished till it blazes out in glory that makes the longlists. While the plots, characters and settings of those longlisted entries vary infinitely, the quality of the writing and the presentation are what consistently shout ‘professional’.
   
• Self-editing helps you learn your craft
  The biggest incentive to self-editing is that, by so doing, you learn your craft. This is an ongoing process; the more you wield your editing pen, the sharper your writing becomes. Through editing and honing your work you’ll come to understand your own strengths and weaknesses and discover how to highlight the one and minimise the other.