Six Easy Tips for Self-Editing Your Fiction

An Excellent little piece from Kristen Lamb about how to edit your own work. Remember, the more you do the less your editor has to worry about obvious writing problems– which means you have a happy editor. Keeping your editor happy is very, very important.

Kristen Lamb's Blog

Original image via Flikr Commons courtesy of Mark Coggins

There are a lot of hurdles to writing great fiction, which is why it’s always important to keep reading and writing. We only get better by DOING. Today we’re going to talk about some self-editing tips to help you clean up your book before you hire an editor.

When I worked as an editor, I found it frustrating when I couldn’t even GET to the story because I was too distracted by these all too common oopses.

There are many editors who charge by the hour. If they’re spending their time fixing blunders you could’ve easily repaired yourself? You’re burning cash and time. Yet, correct these problems, and editors can more easily get to the MEAT of your novel. This means you will spend less money and get far higher value.

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