5 Essential Self Editing Tips

In the past two years, I have been working a lot on my writing. Specifically, I have been self-editing my books. There are so many things to think about when you are self-editing. Here are few things that I have been focusing on.

Spell Check and Grammar

This is one of the first things that stands out to me when reading a book. If a word is spelled wrong, or if there is just a word missing, it stops me in my tracks. I become distracted rereading the sentence to figure out if I’m just reading it wrong, or if it really is written wrong.

Also, make sure you are using the correct grammar and sentence structure. Sometimes something will sound better just when you rearrange the sentence. If you are reading through your writing and something sounds off or awkward, chances are it will sound that way to your readers as well. Read your writing out loud and you will hear the inconsistencies, or areas that need the most help.

There are many resources to help you with this step. If you are using Microsoft Office, there is a built-in spell check and grammar check. Be careful though. Sometimes it will suggest things that don’t make sense. Here is an example from my book: “The front compartment of her backpack was almost full from her haul.” The grammar check wants me to change the “full from” to “full of” which would not make sense in this context. So make sure you are not blindly following the auto edits that whatever checker you are using suggests. Google Docs also has built-in checkers, you can choose whether it checks for spelling and grammar.

Tense and Perspective

This is something that you want to be sure you are being consistent with. When I first began writing I really had no concept of past versus present tense. I didn’t realize it was such a big part of writing. It makes a huge difference if you are writing in past tense, and then all of sudden you start writing in present tense. It is okay if you were talking about the past, and now you are talking about the present. But, if you are writing your entire story in past tense, make sure it stays that way. In dialogue, you can use present tense, because it would be weird if the characters were talking about things they were going to do as if they had already done them. Or, if you are writing your entire story in the present tense, make sure it stays that way.

It is the same with perspective. You have to decide whether you are writing your story in first person, second person, or third person. This can be a little more lenient. You can write from first person when you are talking about your main character, and then switch to third when you are talking about other characters' perspectives — but this can be confusing and would need to be separated somehow. I actually did this, but reversed, in the first book I wrote. The main character’s story is told in third person, while the side characters have their stories told in first person. Looking back, I am not a fan. But, these are things we learn along the way.

Once you choose your perspective, stay consistent. Here is an example from my book that I am currently working on.

“Ephram’s eyes flickered as sleep threatened to overtake him. He could not remember the last time he had slept for more than a few hours straight.”

No, it would not make sense if I suddenly switched perspectives partway through.

“Ephram’s eyes flickered as sleep threatened to overtake me. I could not remember the last time he had slept for more than a few hours straight.” This makes the reader think you are talking about two separate people. I usually don’t have trouble with keeping the perspective consistent. However, when you start out thinking you want to write from first-person and change your mind after you write the whole book and have to go back in and change it all, it can be harder to catch all of the “me’s” and “I’s.”

Show, Don’t Tell

This is one that I am still working on. It makes a story so much more interesting if they are given a word picture, rather than being told what they should be seeing. Here is an example from my book that I have rewritten to be more of showing and less telling.

“After about an hour of walking, they finally broke free from the trees. There was a wide-open area in front of them broken up by small hills and flowers that appeared to be Coneflowers and Black-eyed Susans. The purple and yellow flowers dotted the hillsides and all along the road that cut straight through them. Andy could not stop herself from smiling at the beautiful sight.”

Before I rewrote it, it looked like this: “After about an hour of walking, they finally broke free from the trees. There was a wide-open area in front of them of hills and flowers. Andy could not stop herself from smiling at the beautiful sight. There were purple and yellow flowers dotting the hillsides and all along the road that cut straight through.”

I didn’t have to change too much, but now you can actually imagine the flowers because you know what to imagine. Rather than simply purple and yellow flowers, specifically Coneflowers and Black-eyed Susans. It makes a big difference when you are the reader.

Additional Readers

Have someone else read your story. Ask your mom, dad, husband, sibling, or friend to read through your story. A second, set of eyes can help illuminate mistakes or awkward places that you may have missed. I had my mom and my husband each read my book. My mom pointed out some places I had mixed up tenses, and some awkward phrasing that would confuse a reader. My husband helped me by pointing out where I should do more showing and less telling. He also knew a little bit more about some of the activities that my characters were doing and he let me know what was realistic and what was not.

Use Resources

I found a great article about things to focus on when self-editing. https://www.writermag.com/improve-your-writing/revision-grammar/self-editing/

It points out a lot of what I talked about, but also some other ideas for what makes a story better. One of the specific points the article talks about is avoiding adverbs, which is what I read about in Stephen King’s On Writing book. This is something that I think about every time I use a word like quietly, quickly, slowly, tightly, etc. I still use them, even though I know I shouldn’t! But, when I go back through while editing, I try to think if there is a better way to express that action being performed. A more enticing and exciting use of my words.

I hope that this helps you if you are preparing for self-editing your work! There are so many ways you can improve your writing, and rewriting is one great way to do so.

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