{"id":2723,"date":"2022-12-29T03:57:29","date_gmt":"2022-12-29T03:57:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whitemagicstudios.co.uk\/blog\/?p=2723"},"modified":"2022-12-29T03:57:30","modified_gmt":"2022-12-29T03:57:30","slug":"editing-steps-for-a-cleaner-better-novel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whitemagicstudios.co.uk\/blog\/editing-steps-for-a-cleaner-better-novel\/","title":{"rendered":"Editing steps for a cleaner better novel<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We always recommend paying professional editors to edit your book, but before you hand your book to an editor\u2014or submit it to Amazon publishing services<\/a><\/strong>\u2014you should self-edit your novel. Self-editing in no way replaces a professional editor in self-publishing company, Manchester UK<\/a><\/strong> such as White Magic Studios<\/em>, but it will result in a cleaner, better novel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So here are eight self-editing steps to help you set your novel up for success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Let the manuscript rest for a few days before re-reading it. This helps clear your mind and makes it easier to catch mistakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Rather than telling the reader how your characters feel, show that emotion with the characters\u2019 actions. Write out dialogue instead of summarizing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, telling instead of showing is also good for showing the passage of time, creating transitions, relaying some backstory, and balancing out \u201cshowing\u201d passages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Even accomplished authors can be too wordy. Identify and remove wordiness<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Dialogue should sound natural; try reading your characters\u2019 interactions out loud to hear how they sound. Remember that people often use contractions when speaking, and they rarely name drop. For the most part, people also don\u2019t tell others things they already know; dialogue should not be used to add description or backstory in an unnatural way.However, when self-editing dialogue, don\u2019t go for too <\/em>realistic\u2014no reader wants to slog through a bunch of \u201cum\u201ds and \u201clike\u201ds and any other crutch words people use in real life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Use the right balance of dialogue tags, not too much nor too little. To add dimension to the dialogue, try switching out some of the basic \u201che said\/she said\u201d dialogue tags with creative dialogue tags, like \u201cspat,\u201d \u201cscreamed,\u201d \u201cgrumbled,\u201d \u201cyelled,\u201d and \u201cwhispered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use action beats to show who is speaking instead of normal dialogue tags. Take this example, which uses a creative dialogue tag, an action beat, and then no further tags:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hate this song,\u201d he grumbled.
\u201cWhat? But I love it!\u201d Claire reached to turn the music louder, grinning at her brother.
\u201cPlease, no.\u201d
\u201cHave you ever even listened to it all the way through?\u201d
\u201cI don\u2019t need to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Read for Point of View. Staying in the point of view for one character in each scene is the best way to get into a character\u2019s head and pull the reader in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Fix Punctuation Issues<\/p>\n\n\n\n