How to Self-Edit: 5 Ways to Improve Your Manuscript
Every book that gets published should undergo editing.
This isn’t a question of the writer’s skill, but simply a reality of the human brain. We see what we expect to see on the page, allowing confusing phrasing, dropped antecedents, tense slippage, and wrong word choice to sneak into even the most skilled writer’s work. These errors can hurt your chances with certain retail options, such as libraries, curriculums, physical bookstores, and conference circuits — not to mention potentially resulting in scathing reader reviews!
For best results, a book should go through developmental editing, stylistic/content editing, copy editing, and proofreading. This is a huge amount of work to do on your own, and some of it is impossible to see without fresh eyes. But there are ways you can improve the text so that when hiring a professional editor, you can focus on the pieces that most require a professional’s expertise. This process is called self-editing; with diligence and skill, good self-editing may even result in fewer rounds with your editor, saving you time and money.
Many of us can't help editing ourselves as we write, but your writing and self-editing will go smoother if you have a system for tackling your text. Here are 5 actionable strategies for effective self-editing that will improve your manuscript and help pave the way for when it's time to bring in a professional.
1. Introductions
There are two kinds of introductions we want to focus on here: chapter starts and the introduction of new terms or people. Each introduction must provide the required context for your reader to follow your meaning.
For chapter starts in fiction, this may mean describing where the characters are, clarifying which character we’re following, signalling a shift in time since the last chapter, etc. This is called setting the scene, and it needs to happen whenever the location, time, or point of view (POV) has changed, and whenever a new scene or chapter begins.
For chapter starts in nonfiction, this may mean clarifying the focus or subject of this section, laying out a question you will answer, or providing crucial definitions so that the following discussion lands as intended. This sort of establishing framework ensures clarity while guiding your reader through your logic.
The same is true when you introduce a new term, reference, or person (even if only in discussion). The easiest way is to provide a definition when the word/name first appears. In nonfiction, definitions are crucial where acronyms or terms may have multiple meanings in other fields or disciplines, so that even if the reader did a search for it, they may not find the correct meaning.
This also works in fiction. For example, rather than saying:
That morning her uncle arrived with a suitcase and two nephews in tow. Harold offered a wave as they came towards the front door.
Try:
That morning her uncle, Harold, arrived with a suitcase and two nephews in tow. Harold offered a wave as they came towards the front door.
Otherwise, readers won’t know if Harold is the uncle or one of the nephews.
If you don’t want to be heavy handed in your prose with too much exposition, you can work your definition into the surrounding text. These context clues provide descriptive details about the thing you’re mentioning so that the reader can figure out what it is, even if they’re unfamiliar with the word itself.
This technique works when using words from other languages, too:
Sayoko stood on the threshold in a beam of bright sunshine. “Itterasshai!” she called after her daughter, sending her off to school.
Context clues are especially important in speculative fiction where conlangs (constructed languages) may use words that cannot be searched online. For example:
Upon a plinth sits an object covered in dark cloth. . . . Gandalf says, “A Palantír is a dangerous tool, Saruman.”
In this snippet from Tolkein’s The Two Towers, we are introduced to a mysterious object. While the narrative doesn’t stop to explain what a Palantír is precisely, we are told some important details: its rough size, that it’s a tool, and that it is dangerous. At this point in the story, this is all we need to know to keep reading.
If you have a style sheet where you’ve been recording any key terms or phrases, you can go through this list of vocab and use the Find function in your word processor to jump to its first mention and ensure that you’ve provided sufficient definition or context clues. This will prevent reader confusion and increase readability.
2. Formatting
Even if you don’t have formal training in writing, chances are you do a lot of it every day. From texting your family to writing emails for work, you craft plenty of sentences. However, the way you might fire off chatspeak or emojis to your friends isn’t the way you should be addressing your audience. This isn’t even just a matter of professionalism — it’s also an issue of clarity.
It’s fine to take a conversational tone, especially if writing a self-help or a contemporary romance, if that’s how you want to present yourself. But there are certain formatting rules expected in books that you’ll still need to follow for your manuscript to look, well, like a book and not a social media rant:
Use standard paragraph spacing and indentation (left-hand indents on the first line, no spaces between paragraphs of the same type);
Start a new line each time the speaker changes;
Use standard sentence punctuation, including periods at the end of sentences and quotation marks around speech;
Use a standard style and font size for your headings; be consistent, especially if you have multiple levels of hierarchy;
Keep your body text in a single font and size (if you want fancy text effects, that should be the work of your designer);
Use a standard text effect for emphasis, such as italics or bold, never all caps, drawn out vowels, or multiple exclamation points (the exception to this rule may be in children’s books);
Refrain from chatspeak like “lol” or emojis within the narration; these devices should only be used if you are presenting texts or quoting social media posts.
Of course, if you’re writing a contemporary fiction, business book, or memoir that includes text messages or chat logs, you may have more leeway with formatting. Even in this case, make sure you’re balancing realism with accessibility. Slang trends move fast, so if you’re writing “prty was lit bro” to try to appeal to a younger audience, your book will become dated really quickly. When in doubt, keep an eye on the big picture and opt for longevity.
3. Flow
Flow is the ease with which a reader moves through your text. It crops up in both sentence length and paragraph length. What the “right” length is will depend on your target audience. Short, simple sentences might be perfect for a children’s book, but too many of them in a row for a business book will become choppy and disjointed. For a rough guideline, you can review other books in your genre (intended for your audience) to see the kind of flow other authors use. The rest comes down to how the text sounds. It’s very much a Goldilocks balance of just right: not too short, not too long.
For example:
Annette rose from the table, wiping her hands on her apron and looking at the clock, Henry was late again and if he didn’t get home soon, they wouldn’t have time to eat before they needed to leave for the opera. She’d told him just that morning that it was starting at seven, but oh, what was the use when he never listened to her, just like her sister Marjorie, never listening, what was it about Annette that made her so easy to ignore?
This sample paragraph has no flow. It consists of long, run-on sentences and changes subject matter twice. Here’s how we can improve it with better flow, breaking up the run-on sentences into discrete thoughts and inserting paragraph breaks when the thought shifts:
Annette rose from the table, wiping her hands on her apron and looking at the clock. Henry was late again. If he didn’t get home soon, they wouldn’t have time to eat before they needed to leave for the opera.
She’d told him just that morning that it was starting at seven. But oh, what was the use when he never listened to her! Just like her sister Marjorie, never listening.
What was it about Annette that made her so easy to ignore?
Conversely, you may have the opposite problem:
Jumping around, their arms up.
What a dance!
So many people.
All looking for someone to connect with.
Here, there are too many fragmented sentences missing something crucial. It might work as beat poetry, but not as prose. Let’s combine them to create better flow:
Jumping around with their arms up, college students filled the club. What a dance! So many people had come out tonight, and all of them were looking for someone to connect with.
Have a look through your text for any sections that go on for too long a stretch without a break. Also look for places where there are too many sentence fragments or staccato paragraph breaks. See if you can smooth them out by tweaking the sentences or spacing.
4. Sources
With how readily available information is to anyone connected to the Internet, it can be tempting to just plop in external content without thinking about it. From epigraphs (quotes at the beginning of a book or chapter that set the tone) to quoting other writers, speakers, or even including images — you need to cite your sources. An editor cannot become your research assistant, tracking down where you found each tidbit of information, so you’ll save yourself a lot of headaches if you record this information as you go.
Epigraphs are easy to cite; simply include who said the quote: first and last name. You may want to also include where they said it, if that’s relevant. For example:
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
When quoting another book, study, paper, interview, etc., you must record where that information is from (the source magazine, book, website, podcast, etc.). Depending on the style of your book, this may mean setting up footnotes/endnotes and a bibliography.
The simpler and more universal format is in text citations. In text citations are the easiest to read and the least obtrusive, and so are a great fit for any book that isn’t intended for a highly academic audience. They either give the source in the narrative or include a short citation in brackets.
Themes in speculative fiction today delve into deeper truths than many literary circles give them credit for. These books aren’t just a vessel for escape, they help us understand who we are. As N.K. Jemisin said in The Fifth Season, “Home is what you take with you, not what you leave behind.”
The above version provides all the context in the narration. It may be paired with a References List at the back of the book, but doesn’t need a footnote. Conversely, the following version provides less context in the narration and so must be paired with either a bibliography or a references list:
Themes in speculative fiction today delve into deeper truths than many literary circles give them credit for. These books aren’t just a vessel for escape, they help us understand who we are. “Home is what you take with you, not what you leave behind.” (Jemisin 2015)
And the corresponding reference would look like this:
Jemisin, N. K. 2015. The Fifth Season. London: Orbit.
When it comes to including images sourced externally, you must check the use rights for each one. A caption should include the image credits. Or you can include an Illustrations List that provides the use credits in sequential order. Either way, you need to make sure you have permissions to reproduce someone else’s photo, illustration, graphic, or map in your trade publication.
Pro Tip: Don’t use song lyrics in your book unless they’re in the public domain or you have express permission to reproduce them from the copyright holder.
5. Audio Review
Once you’ve implemented your revisions, listen to your text using a Read Aloud or Text-to-Speech tool if possible. As you listen, scan along the text visually and look for places where the machine reader fumbles. This is a great way to pick up on the wrong words being used, basic typos, run-on sentences, or constructions that don’t make sense.
Each time you encounter a fumble, pause the reader and make your edit in the text. Then back up to the beginning of that sentence and resume the reader. It may take a while to do this review, depending on the length of your manuscript. But it will help catch your most egregious errors, which can help lighten the load on an editor and allow them to focus on the more substantive and developmental aspects that require an outsider to provide fresh perspective.
Following these steps will prepare your manuscript for a smoother editing experience and enhance the quality of your finished product. However, if after reviewing these tips you feel out of your depth, rest assured an editor can certainly help you with all of these things in an editing service. So long as these issues are addressed and resolved before your manuscript goes to print, you’ll have a book you can be proud of.