Category Archives: Editing
10 Tips to Editing Your Own Novel
Tip #1: You’ve finished the first draft of your novel. Congratulations. Take some time off and celebrate. No, really, I mean it. Set your novel in a drawer for at least six weeks. Do something else in the meantime. If … Continue reading
Filed under Editing, Sharpening Our Writing
How to Format Your Novel or Manuscript
Industry standards on formatting a manuscript change from time to time, and not all publishers agree on formatting. But this is what most publishers consider standard today. Font: Times New Roman or another standard font in 12 point size. Page … Continue reading
Filed under Computer/Internet/Blogging, Editing, Sharpening Our Writing, Writing Tips
Increasing The Word Count In A Manuscript
Although some writers have problems writing too many words for their novel, other writers find when they finish their first draft, they have too few words. Here’s some ways too increase your word count without making your story boring. Flesh … Continue reading
Filed under Editing, Sharpening Our Writing, Writing Tips
Decreasing The Word Count In A Manuscript
Many times, after the first or second drafts, writers find they have monumental manuscript of 200,000 or more words. If you find yourself in that situation, here’s some ways to decrease your word count without hurting your story. Look for … Continue reading
Filed under Editing, Sharpening Our Writing, Writing Tips
How to Use Critiques to Improve Your Novel
Every fiction writer can benefit from a critique of his or her work. But too many critiques, critiques done too early, and taking advice from the wrong people make a critique your worst nightmare. These are the best ways to … Continue reading
Filed under Editing, Sharpening Our Writing
Genre Word Counts
Many times a writer will write a novel, edit it, polish it, write a great query letter and proposal, and submit it to a publisher or agent only to find the word count is wrong. Here are general guidelines for … Continue reading
Filed under Editing, Genres, Sharpening Our Writing
Microsoft Word Features For Writers Part 2: Thesaurus, Word Count, Spelling & Grammar Check, Editing
Thesaurus: Highlight the word you want to look up, and go to review, then click thesaurus. You may want a more comprehensive thesaurus available during editing, but when writing the first draft, MS Word thesaurus is more than adequate. Grammar … Continue reading
MS Word Features For Writers: Template, Find & Replace, Bookmarks
Many writer’s use Microsoft Word, but they don’t use it to its fullest advantage. This week, I’ll post a series highlighting features that benefit writers in Microsoft Word and Microsoft One Note. I am giving instructions for Word and OneNote … Continue reading
Those Pesky Ly Words
Adverbs are words that normally end in an ly and should usually be avoided when possible. I used two ly words in the last sentence; nobody can avoid them all. Many new writers delete all of their ly words but … Continue reading
Filed under Editing, Sharpening Our Writing
Words Writers Should Delete
As writers, we love words. But there are some words that should rarely be used or are used in the wrong way. Here’s a list of words I search for in my WIP’s. I’ve used them in bad examples and … Continue reading
Filed under Editing, Sharpening Our Writing
