Editing Tips - Tumblr Posts

Ten questions to ask a friend who just read your novel

Here are ten questions to ask that will not put your friend in a tough spot, but will still give you some useful input on your novel:

1. At what point did you feel like “Ah, now the story has really begun!”  2. What were the points where you found yourself skimming?  3. Which setting in the book was clearest to you as you were reading it? Which do you remember the best?  4. Which character would you most like to meet and get to know?  5. What was the most suspenseful moment in the book?  6. If you had to pick one character to get rid of, who would you axe?  7. Was there a situation in the novel that reminded you of something in your own life?  8. Where did you stop reading, the first time you cracked open the manuscript? (Can show you where your first dull part is, and help you fix your pacing.)  9. What was the last book you read, before this? And what did you think of it? (This can put their comments in context in surprising ways, when you find out what their general interests are. It might surprise you.)  10. Finish this sentence: “I kept reading because…”

Your friend is probably still going to tell you, “It was good!” However, if you can ask any specific questions, and read between the lines, you can still get some helpful information out of even the most well-meaning reader.

Source: Examiner

The dearwriters Revision-Checklist

IX. Format

Certainly not universal, mostly a hodgepodge of a bunch of writing advice gathered over the years. Hope it helps!

1. White Space Check: Vary empty space on the page, dense parapgraphs of narration vs. loose dialogue.

2. Check Format: Are all chapter titles, mottos, special cases (texts, letters, mottos etc.) uniform? (Attention: If you want to send the manuscript to an agency: Check the format rules on their website and make sure to apply them to your manuscript before sending it off.)

3. Word Count Check: There are certain standards of word counts for each genre/target group. Make sure you don’t deviate from them too much. Cut or add accordingly.

At this point you reached the end of this revision process! You can send you manuscript to beta-readers and once you have their feedback … well, I’m afraid this starts all over again.

Have fun editing!

Check out the other parts here:

I. Pre-Revision

II. Plot-Revision

III. Character Revision

IV. Setting Revision  

V. Pace Revision

VI. Detail Revision

VII. Dialogue Revision

VIII. Line Edit

Writing (Editing?) Tip:

Struggling to get rid of amazing lines that're messing with the flow of your scene? Have attachment issues with your paragraphs? Don't delete them- make a separate document for scrapped writing and leave it there. I personally have a document for every WIP I've actually started writing for, dedicated entirely to the purpose of compiling lines, phrases, paragraphs, and sometimes whole scenes of my stories.

Do I ever come back to it besides when adding more stuff? Not really. Do I even remember what's in those damn documents? Absolutely not. But just that reassurance of "it's there if you change your mind" is so, so helpful when trying to let go so that I can move on and keep writing. It keeps me from getting all hung up about it because I get way too attached to the randomest things lmao.

TLDR: Don't kill your darlings, put them in storage!