I Only Know Three Things About Editing

First - Print it out and edit from the paper copy

Editing from the screen has become the method of choice for many writers, and will work if you plan to send it off to a professional editor afterward. If you do not have the time, or money, for a professional editor, you must edit from paper.

The last time I posted about not hiring a professional editor I got quite a few comments from writes saying a book should never be published without proper professional editing. This is wonderful advice if the writer can afford the over $1,000 needed to get a good job.

As I have stated here before one of the problems in editing, and the writing business in general, is finding a good editor. Book doctors and editors need only to advertise and they are in business. Sad, but there are some real scam artists calling themselves editors who may or may not run your works through a quick editing program and pronounce it edited and ready for publication.

Second - Read it aloud

Reading out loud will let you find, bad punctuation, poor word choice, awkward sentences and sometimes tense changes. The good news here is that programs are available that will read your work. They will sound like a computer reader, odd, but maybe not so odd since it is the computer reading.

I like to read it myself and listen to myself, which sounds a bit full of myself, but it works. Wives, husbands or friends reading your words to you works great.

Third – Look for overuses of easy/lazy words. Here’s my list.

That, stuff, things, very, got, all, every, seem, almost, sometimes, big, little, have got, just - and the dreaded, was-is-are-am

It is simple to use the find and replace editing function to pick up these and at least, attempt a fix.

There you have it the only three thing’s I know about editing, not much.  Must be why I am looking out my window at a foot of new snow instead of writing today.

Oh- don’t forget to spell and grammar check, often.

My 5 Nonfiction Mistakes

Seems like every blog I read lately has a top 5 or 10 or 20 of something. Or a list of 5 or 10, do’s or don’ts.  I am not an exception, I occasionally post lists, and you know what, I like them. Today I have another – My top five list for things to avoid in writing nonfiction.

For those who have read my posts for a while, you already know, I have two fiction books ready for publication but keep putting it off. Now I have a nonfiction almost ready. I am not without publication experience, having many short stories and a large amount of nonfiction in print. But when it came to publishing my books – I keep skipping out. Now I have a goal, publish all three of my books and two collections of short stories in the next year. Wish me luck!

And now that list

Five Things To Avoid When Writing Nonfiction.

1.    When using footnotes or endnotes, like I did, make a memo of the source as you note it. Do not do what I did, add the endnote number and hope you can remember where it came from later. Yes, I had to go back and find them all – again.

2.   Outline before you start – I use just a list of chapter titles to keep me on track. Writing fiction with, stream of consciousness, can work, not so with nonfiction.

3.   It is often better to quote than to paraphrase. Gets to the point better.

4.   Photos work and are needed in nonfiction, they are unnecessary and cumbersome in fiction

5.   When you start writing, quit researching and write. If you need to fact check more, save it for the first edit.

Built By the CCC and the Inspiration for My Nonfiction Work

 

These are the things that held me back and slowed me down. If I do another nonfiction, and I have one in planning, I will at least avoid these five mistakes.