I’ve seen the question posed (in various forms) on social media sites that writers frequent. “I just finished writing my story. Can I send it ‘as is’ to my editor?” Or it might be something like, “How much editing do I need to do before I send my story to beta readers?” A writer may consider the story done when the last sentence is typed, but let’s explore some practical, cost-saving steps that are worth taking before handing off a finished story to anyone.
Proof, Proof, and Proof Again!
I run my stories through a gauntlet of proofing processes. After the initial spelling and grammar check (more about this a bit later), I do a search to see if a particular word has been used too many times. You may already have a suspect word, or you can read a few chapters and see if one pops up more than it should. (My characters tend to sigh a lot.) Now is a great time to find synonyms or restructure a sentence to reduce the use of that word.
That grammar check I mentioned? Don’t believe it entirely. I’ve found instances where the grammar was correct, but the sentence didn’t make sense with the word I mistyped or wrote by mistake.
The Find and Replace function is not always your best friend! Sure, it may replace what you intended, but it may also pull out parts of words and replace them with something that makes no sense at all. Sure, it’s tedious, but I use the Find function and go in, one-by-one, and check to ensure what I wrote was correct or change it. You may have other writing apps that help with word choices, so use what works best for you and will give you the most accurate results.
Hard Copy and Pen
I apologize to the trees (and vow to shred/recycle) as I wait for my story to be printed. I ask for two-sided to save paper, pull out my red pen, and settle in for multiple readings. The first time, I try to read through as if I’ve just purchased the book (I assume the role of reader). I want to see how the story flows, if I get hung up or bogged down, or if I have unanswered questions. Note them with that red pen, take a break, and begin again.
This time (you might want to change ink colors or use a highlighter), I look for sentence flow, length, and spelling or plot errors. You might find one of those grammar check corrections I mentioned earlier, and you may discover that in the first chapter your character had green eyes, but in chapter three you said they were blue. Your readers will call you out, so make sure your plot points and character traits are accurate and consistent.
Another read through might cover just chapter endings and beginnings. Are the endings compelling enough to make the reader want to turn the page? Are the beginnings where you want them to be? Sometimes a chapter beginning is a great place to let time pass and move the story along.
Back to the Screen
After multiple readings and markups, I go back to the computer and make my edits to the online version. As I’m doing this, I inevitably find other areas that need fixing—a better word choice or a rewrite of a sentence, paragraph, etc.
The bottom line: What I’m trying to accomplish is to try and make my story as perfect as I can before handing it off to anyone. Sure, there will be edits to make after your beta readers and editor have a go at —that’s to be expected. But the goal is to have the requested edits be about a plot point or feeling the story imparts rather than the fact that you mis-spelled fascination three times and didn’t bother correcting it. Spend your money wisely when using the time and talents of dedicated readers and editors by giving them your best version. Give them the best story you have at that point—they will appreciate the time and effort you invested. So will you.
anon
I would suggest that this is line editing and not really checking if the story is complete before sending it off to someone to read. Consider self-editing for structure. Check that characters are consistent, setting details are accurate, cause and effect are honored and logically progressed in your story. These take much more intensive (read: expensive) professional editing because the editor is NOT in your head. Giving yourself a little objective distance and then doing these checks yourself will improve your story a great deal more than simply checking repeatedly for awkward phrasing, and misspelled or misused words.
Anne K. Hawkinson
Various readings can take their turn looking for what the writer wants to cover.
Lee Gramling
A time-consuming and ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL process. I do all of these things myself. One should never expect an editor to “fix” a piece of writing, only to serve as a “backstop” to catch those oversights that I, at least, still inevitably seem to make. And in my experience the good ones do it in the form of questions: “Is this really what you meant to say?” “Who is speaking here?” “How can a character slam the door in someone’s face when you’ve said the door opens away from them?” “Would a girl with long flowing hair really spend two weeks that way traipsing through the woods?” Etc. Etc.
Anne K. Hawkinson
Agree! Thanks for your comments.
VERONICA Helen HART
My editor frequently had to request that I go back and check for words used too many times. (Even though I think I checked before submitting.) I now ask my writing critique group to help with that as well as story content and typos. Besides doing our own homework, I find that a critique group is one of the best ways to catch characters behaving out of character or blue eyes that become brown.
Anne K. Hawkinson
It’s wonderful to have as many readers as possible provide their reactions and responses.
Niki Kantzios
Great advice. And if everyone else is like me, they always find something that can be improved no matter how many times they’ve read it!