So I’m a stay at home mom, I chose the analogy of changing a diaper to editing. It’s not my most favorite job, but one that has to get done, and once done everyone is much happier.

You could make up your own analogy, like scooping poo or cleaning toilets. It adds a little humor to it…

As some of you may know from my post on Sunday, I recently received a request for a full manuscript from an editor. Well needless to say I was bouncing off the walls, until I sat down and realized, even though I had edited my manuscript before, I needed to do a once over to make sure that it was everything it could be. Your first impression is your only impression, before it hits the rejection pile. Okay that was a little negative, but I’m not getting my hopes up in case it is rejected, then I won’t be disappointed. Let’s just say if it gets accepted I will not only bounce off the walls, I will bounce right through them!

So edits, edits, edits…. Now granted the editor did like my synopsis, but that is only the plot of my work, would she like how I actually told the story? Remember when editing don’t take the soul out of your work. The soul and emotion will grab the reader and never let go.

Here is what I do to edit:

• 1. Spell check, you don’t want to turn it in with a misspelled word!!! Take the grammar check with a grain of salt. I use fragment sentences a lot to add tension, drama, emotion, to my work and my computer hates me for it.




• 2. I do a find search for the following: had, that, ly, ing, ed
  Sounds tedious I know, but a lot of times when you are actually reading you don’t notice the things that others do, and doing a find search of the above helps in the following ways.

• • a.Had: this is a huge filler word and often times you will find that you don’t need it. I find it a lot of times before an “ed” word, and it really negates the “ed” word.

  
  

  • b. That: this is my worst nightmare. I put that everywhere, when you take them out you find that, you can really tighten up that manuscript and not distract you reader from all that crap….hehehe

  
  

  • c. ly, ing, ed: this will show you a lot of your adjectives, verbs, etc… and you can make sure you have used a varied amount instead the same ones over and over and over and over and, okay I’ll stop.

• 3. Then I do a read through one more time, trying to do it slowly so I can catch each word and see that it makes sense.

You may find some things you want to change, and you may not. You may actually say to yourself that you did a good job. You may change a lot of things. No matter what you do though, remember that the editor took notice and WANTS to read it, so don’t change the whole thing around.

What are some things that you do to edit a manuscript?

Readers, have you ever read a book that felt like it had been edited to death, and there was no soul left? I know I have…

Happy Wednesday!

Eliza