Self-Editing Checklist

Nothing compares to reading my manuscript on paper after staring at it onscreen for two years. And talking about it for a year with a critique group.

I loaded my baby onto a flash drive and took it to work, anxious for my lunch hour when I could take it to Office Depot. For around $25, I took home a 275-page, spiral bound block of reality.

That baby felt weighty. Substantial. Like I had accomplished something. Wait a sec. She’s no longer a baby. This kid’s a teenager getting groomed to go off to college—that is, the ACFW Genesis Contest. And to visit an agent—well, to query an agent via email. Scary. Thrilling. Terrifying.

I was an editing maniac for a week. I pored over the pages with pen in hand. There were moments of exhilaration. Yeah, I nailed that. And moments of total despair. I suck. I’m so far away from having this ready.

Unbelievable how much I was able to catch by reading the story out loud and making line edits by hand. I deleted paragraphs. Detected sections of dialogue that made me snore. Snipped and tidied and sharpened.

The little darlings—those words I used over and over again without realizing it—popped. Like these:

“Just.” 253 instances. That’s almost 1 on every page!
“Truly”
“California” (my story takes place in Washington state!)

Before my hard copy review, I read Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself Into Print by Renni Browne and Dave King, a little book full of wisdom critical for the serious writer. I want to memorize it! Then maybe book #2 won’t require nearly as many edits. I can dream, can’t I? 🙂

Below are snippets of editing wisdom I gleaned from the book.

THINGS TO AVOID

Naming feelings and emotions
Cliches
Starting sentences with “As” or words that end in “-ing’
Passive phrases using “she was -ing”; e.g. “she was screaming.”
Instead use active verbs (and fewer words!); e.g. “she screamed.”
“-ly” words
Disguising exposition in dialogue (trying to shove information into conversation)
Explaining – smuggling emotions into speaker attributes that belong in the dialogue or action itself
Formality in dialogue
Long, fancy words
Flowery language

THINGS TO DO

Use body language to express emotions
Italicize interior monologue; do not add quotes or provide dialogue tags
In dialogue, don’t be afraid to use commas instead of periods to make is read like it would sound
When a character asks a question, have the other character avoid the question or ignore it completely. Have him use misdirection. Or provide a totally different answer than the question asked.
For dialogue tags, use “Sam said.” –not– “said Sam.” (Easy way to remember – think of how odd it would sound if you wrote “said I.” You’ll either sound like Yoda or the writer of Fun With Dick and Jane)
To denote trailing off in dialogue, use ellipses
- “Sam…”
To denote interruption in dialogue, use an em dash
- “Sam, listen—”