6 Tips to Improve Edits

Six Important Tips I've Learned During My First Content Edits

I thought I’d share some of my content edits trials and tribulations. Some of these tips may seem simple. Some may seem like common sense. But we’re all different and you never know until you have to sit down and edit.

 

1. A major weakness for many writers is the “passive voice.” Words to avoid: was, were, is, are, be, been, have, do, show, feel, realize, saw. Here are two great web sources to check your own exceprts: Writer’s Diet http://writersdiet.com/WT.php and Autocrit http://www.autocrit.com/ Also, I suggest doing a search through your manuscript for the key “passive” words.
2. All authors tend to favor particular words repeatedly. Again, you want to search for these words in the manuscript and pull out your thesaurus to choose better word choices. My favorite words in my latest manuscript have been: glance, look, shrug
3. Use exclamation points sparingly. It was suggested to me to use one every three chapters, if at all.
4. You’re going to have to cut or change your darlings. Stephen King said, “kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.” No matter how much it hurts, you will have to do it.
5. Head hopping hurts the brain. When the author jumps from one point of view to another in the same scene, it distracts the reader and pulls them from the story. Keep your scenes in one point of view.
6. Get up and move. I had a month to edit my manuscript, so every free second I had, I found myself slumped over my computer. Boy, did I regret it later. I had major back pain (writer’s hump). My advice is to have a good chair, sit straight and get up to stretch. Sounds silly, but your back will thank me.

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Road to Publishing: Major Newbie Author Fail

Have you heard of Track Changes editing? You probably have, but little old me hasn't. So, when I got my first edits back from my awesome editor, she used "Track Changes" in MS Word. Pretty simple.

Here's what it looks like:

What did I do? I printed out the edits, put them in a binder, opened up my manuscript in my writing software, WriteWay Pro (see post about this awesome software) and got to work. Little did I know, I made a huge error. I should have edited in Microsoft Word which tracks my changes. Then, the editor can see the changes I made. Ag! I'm sure she is cursing every word she can think of in English (and French, because she's fluent in French, of course). I just hope she is patient enough  to go through the motions with me being a newbie author. 

Me. Right. Now.

Palm to forehead as I read up on Track Changes and how to use it. Here is a great tutorial I found: www.geoff-hart.com/resources/Using-revision-tracking.pdf

My problem now is my MS Word program is in Spanish. Yuck. This is why I like to use my writing software. My whole computer system is Spanish since I bought it in my little country of Guatemala. I will have to buy the English version of MS Office or teach myself all these Spanish editing words that I never knew existed. What do you think? Que piensas? 

Now after deep breaths, I can only hope that you learn from my mistakes. I know I've learned my lesson. Just remember to...

Thanks for Stopping By,

Melinda

My Wacked-Out World. Monday Funny

I'm going crazy. I am in the week of hell. It is officially the last week of school, which means I'm teaching my last classes to overactive, life-draining, nincompoops my wonderful sixth graders, grading final exams, entering final grades, cleaning my classroom, saying goodbye to teaching friends who are moving on to other countries, and keeping up with my afterschool business, my tutoring center. So, add on about 2-3 more hours at the end of  my work day to my second job...tutoring. Then I get home, make sure my kids are studying for finals and maybe cook dinner (if I don't want my kids to starve or DH steps up to superhero and does it for me). 

And, oh yeah, in the middle of this week I finally get a request from a publisher to see my full manuscript! WOO HOO! SO, somehow, I have to finish my final edits and send that in before they forget about me. 

The good thing is that it's only ONE MORE WEEK and then I have the summer to write and maybe relax.

With that in mind, I wanted to take the time to share some writing funnies. Hope you enjoy.

If only we could really use these symbols when we edit.

This is how I'm feeling! I am still editing another story, but Frequent Flyer is dying to come out! 

Must buy!

Thanks for stopping by. Hopefully I am alive next week. Please check back!

Melinda

Monday Funny for Writers 4/30/12

As I slave away at the computer editing my WIP, Time Changes Everything, I have to wonder when will this ever end? At what point do we stop editing and move on? My goal is to have Time Changes Everything off to my intended publisher (the normal route as opposed to the challenge I previously entered) by the end of May. I'm pacing myself... but I am so ready to move on. My new WIP, Frequent Flyer, is screaming to come out.

As I edit, I remembered the poem by Taylor Mali called "The The Impotence of Proofreading" and wanted to share it with you. It is quite funny. I always wished I could share with my students, but it's a bit inappropriate. So, for you adult-minded editors out there...ENJOY!

And here is a print version of his poem. I hope you listen to it, because he is hilarious!

The the impotence of proofreadingBy Taylor Mali
www.taylormali.com

Has this ever happened to you?
You work very horde on a paper for English clash
And then get a very glow raid (like a D or even a D=)
and all because you are the word’s liverwurst spoiler.
Proofreading your peppers is a matter of the the utmost impotence.

This is a problem that affects manly, manly students.
I myself was such a bed spiller once upon a term
that my English teacher in my sophomoric year,
Mrs. Myth, said I would never get into a good colleague.
And that’s all I wanted, just to get into a good colleague.
Not just anal community colleague,
because I wouldn’t be happy at anal community colleague.
I needed a place that would offer me intellectual simulation,
I really need to be challenged, challenged dentally.
I know this makes me sound like a stereo,
but I really wanted to go to an ivory legal collegue.
So I needed to improvement
or gone would be my dream of going to Harvard, Jail, or Prison
(in Prison, New Jersey).

So I got myself a spell checker
and figured I was on Sleazy Street.

But there are several missed aches
that a spell chukker can’t can’t catch catch.
For instant, if you accidentally leave a word
your spell exchequer won’t put it in you.
And God for billing purposes only
you should have serial problems with Tori Spelling
your spell Chekhov might replace a word
with one you had absolutely no detention of using.
Because what do you want it to douch?
It only does what you tell it to douche.
You’re the one with your hand on the mouth going clit, clit, clit.
It just goes to show you how embargo
one careless clit of the mouth can be.

Which reminds me of this one time during my Junior Mint.
The teacher read my entire paper on A Sale of Two Titties
out loud to all of my assmates.
I’m not joking, I’m totally cereal.
It was the most humidifying experience of my life,
being laughed at pubically.

So do yourself a flavor and follow these two Pisces of advice:
One: There is no prostitute for careful editing.
And three: When it comes to proofreading,
the red penis your friend.

Happy Writing and don't forget to PROOFREAD!

Melinda

Monday Funny for Romance Writers 4/16/12

After spending the weekend in "edit mode," this is how I feel:

But, I promise, I will be nice. How about this instead?

That's better!

Have a happy Monday!

Melinda