Guest Blog Post: 12 easy tips for editing your book by David Jarrett
Good writing takes more than merely a great idea. It takes time to edit and re-edit, yet it can vault mediocre writing into stellar writing. Here UK author and blogger David Jarrett shares how he simplifies the process…
Sean Yeager Adventures — awesome children’s books
1. Get the structure right first with feedback from others, check for consistency.
Hi there, after months of editing and updating here are some tried and tested tips for how to edit your draft book. I found this needed multiple passes, constructive feedback and dispassionate discipline. I also needed to re-learn key parts of grammar to understand what ‘good’ looks like.
By this I mean — the plot, characterisation, events, scenes, order of events, plausibility of events, story arc for each character, etc.
2. Screen your own writing for overuse of words and phrases.
Consistency of proper nouns, places, character names, etc. is also a key check. Word spellchecker can assist by highlighting those variants which are yet to be accepted into your dictionary. A Find and Replace can bring things back under control.
I recommend running Wordcounter and the Hemmingway app on chapters of your work and noting the…
