How to: Time to Edit Your Book, Three Easy Ways to Start

Let's face it, as a writer you will get to the point when it's time to edit your book. It's definitely not one of my favourite things in the world to do, but it feels so good when it's done (especially when it is done right). The story reads so much better. That being said, these are the first three things you can check before you completely reread your own book.

No need to fear when it's time to edit your book.
It is possible to make the editing phase easier on yourself.

Wait Before You Edit Your Book

This was mentioned before on another post. You should wait before you edit your book, as it will allow you to forget about the details. When you go back to your book, it should be as if you're a "almost" new reader. This way, you can spot when there is a loophole. This saved me from my current book in editing. I noticed that I have no idea what was going on in the beginning. After I added a chapter, the story was a lot better to understand.

Captain Obvious' Tip: Use the Spellchecker

The simplest thing you can do is run through your document using the spellchecker. It can often pick up on things you read over (it is super easy to miss typos). Since this is the most exciting thing to do, we are hardly tempted to skip this step, right? Where it is easy to skip this step, it's recommended to run it at least once. This might also be mighty helpful if you used the "replace all" function (shakes head, tut-tut) and it made some unwanted mess-ups.

Find It and Fix It

Next to the spellchecker, the "Find" function can save a lot of time. You will want to search for words you often mix up. My spellchecker doesn't pick up "cant" as a mistake, which means "can't" often turns into "cant". This is one of the words I check. Make yourself a list of problems and use the "Find" function to replace it with the correct one (if needed). The shortcut for it is usually "Ctrl + f".

If you need a place to start, you can look for these:

that/which/who
who/whom
good/well
cant/can't
a lot/alot
affect/effect
further/farther
it's/its
lay/lie
less/fewer
your/you're
they're/their/there
pled/pleaded
a while/awhile
grey/gray
weather/whether
desert/dessert

Also, it would be wise to decide whether you use UK English or USA English. Whichever you choose, make sure you stick to it. Once you have done all you can with your non-reading checks, it is time to move on to the bigger picture.

You are welcome to tell me of confusing words. I will add it to my list and we can create the ultimate "Find" function list. Happy editing!

Photo credit: Pixabay

Comments

Grammar Geek: Is It Believe In, Believe On or Believe That?

Since last week's post was on believe or belief , I decided to ask whether it's believe in , believe on or believe that . All of these are correct and do get used. The questions are when, where, why and how. Here it is in what I hope is the simplest way to explain it and the easiest way to remember it. Believe In and Believe That Correlation A certain professor, H. H. Price , came to the conclusion that there is a difference between believe in and believe that . To him, it came down to this, “Surely belief-in is an attitude to a person, whether human or divine, while belief-that is just an attitude to a proposition?” This makes perfect sense considering the words in and that . Personally, in sounds a lot more involved and personal, whereas that seems distant. Get that away from me. Come on in . That might just be me though. However, this view might make things easier. What if this thinking was indeed the correct manner? To believe in someone is ...

Grammar Geek: When to Use Who or Whom

When to use who or whom can be either complicated or simplistic. It is always best to know the rules and thus the complicated version before you go for the easy, cheat version. This way, you will know you are right, every time. When to Use Who or Whom: Know your Grammar The complicated version calls for our memories of English grammar classes; those classes we slept through. To know who and whom , you need to know their place in the English language. Welcome back to your English class. Study hard! Who and Whoever: The Subjective Pronouns "Subjective pronouns" sounds more dramatic than it needs to. In a less wordy manner, who and whoever are subjects in a sentence. When I was in school, I was taught that the subject is the one doing the action. The verb of the sentence is this "action". Here are some examples: Who knows the answer? Who will go to class? The purple is the subject, as it is the one doing the action. The action (verb) is in gold. Sadly...

Word Wise: Is It Dreamt or Dreamed?

Hmm, is it dreamt or dreamed ? This is once again one of those cases where people can't help but get confused. My spellchecker for one, tells me that dreamt is a spelling mistake. Yet, many of you have heard of both these forms. Both are after all the past tense of dream. Of Dreams I Dreamt Dreamt is just as acceptable as dreamed . Merriam Webster has both these forms under dream. This can be considered as a little strange, as few words have two past tenses. But, even when it is acceptable, dreamt isn't used as much as dreamed . Dreamt is used about 7 times less in American English than dreamed , whereas dreamt in British English is used only 2.5 times less than dreamed . See it here and here on an ngram graph. Still, the point stands that dreamt drew the short end of the straw. It is clear that it is used more in British English than in American English. Does this make dreamt the British version? I Dreamed...

Scribe's Realm

Search This Blog