Why Self-Editing Is a Skill All Writers Should Develop
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Few things are as satisfying for writers than typing “The End” when they finish their manuscripts.
In reality, this milestone is merely the beginning of a new phase of creating a good book: self-editing. This crucial phase of the drafting project has a huge impact on the quality of your book, the costs of editing, and the quality of the feedback you might garner.
Even the strictest plotters should employ self-editing before submitting their manuscript to outside eyes. Here we’re going to cover why self-editing is so important, how to do it effectively, and some tips on how to switch gears from drafting to revision.
What Is Self-editing?
Self-editing is different from a professional edit in two key ways: first, a writer may lack a professional editor’s skill set and, second, the author can only approach their text from a position of familiarity as its author. What this means is that — no matter how skilled the writer, there will be errors, confusing phrasing, or missed elements (for example) that you simply won’t be able to see. That’s okay, though! The goal of self-editing is not to create a perfect manuscript all on your own, it’s to clarify your intentions and smooth out the places where your meaning didn’t quite come across on the page.
Professional editing reduces distractions that diminish your book's readability, such as convoluted content structure, incorrect grammar, and persistent typos. From developmental editing to proofreading, our vetted editing team will match you with the editorial services you need to create the best book possible.
The level of revision needed varies greatly depending on a number of factors, including how much outlining or plotting you did before writing, how clean a drafter you are, and how you organize your thoughts. Some writers are painstakingly slow, agonizing over every sentence and word choice; these writers may only make minor adjustments during their self-editing process. Others throw every idea at the page to see what sticks, including writing additional scenes from different perspectives, writing out of order, leaving notes for future-them to address, etc. These writers might find they are cut-and-pasting their story into a better semblance of order, may rewrite whole passages, or may even transcribe their hand-written notes into a digital document.
No one approach to self-editing is better than another; regardless of your approach, look for five key things:
Does the text flow or build in a connected, deliberate manner?
Is everything you want to say on the page?
Is there anything on the page that does not belong there?
Does it make sense?
Does it sound the way you want it to?
As you read through your work from the beginning, it’s a good idea to begin at a high level. You may not make any changes on your first read-through. Instead, you may want to leave Comments in the margin, or write out your findings chapter by chapter of what’s working, what’s missing, and ideas for solutions for the whole manuscript — before you start implementing any changes.
Once you’ve done this initial assessment, it’s time to self-edit.
How to Self-edit Effectively
As mentioned, there’s no one right way to self-edit. Here we’ll go over some best practices with the caveat that not all of these methods may work for you, so give them a try and curate the approach that fits your writing style best.
Let it percolate
If you’ve just finished drafting, don’t try to self-edit right away. Give yourself at least two weeks to let the book settle in your mind. This allows your subconscious mind to review the work, compare it with your ideals or goals, and to process your memories of the writing process. Once it’s settled, you can come back to your book with fresh eyes. This enables you to notice things you hadn’t before — including passages that don’t ring true, silly typos, and potentially new ideas for how to approach a section of your text.
Even if there are rough patches that you know need work, you should also keep an eye out for the sparkling passages. As Peter Elbow notes in Writing with Power, even the most amateur writers have brilliant bits of prose that come through in their writing. Noting these strong lines or passages for yourself (whether with notes or in a journal) will help keep you anchored as you begin your revisions. Especially if you end up moving things around or rewriting large passages, you don’t want to throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater!
Start with the broad strokes
While you can work through sequentially, starting with the first word on page one and going through to the end, if you noted larger things that need adjustment in your initial assessment, it’s smart to tackle these first. Not only does this make your subsequent smaller revisions more efficient (as you’re not wasting time revising something that’s just going to be cut or further revised later), it also gives the new work you do on these sections a chance to rest before you review them in context.
Broad strokes might include:
Reorganizing content (reordering chapters, moving scenes, cutting sections, drafting new introductions/prologues/endings)
Making changes to names throughout (these changes are much easier to do all at once, so you don’t miss any instances)
Merging characters or rewriting a scene from a different character’s point of view
Changing the tense or perspective (such as from past to present or from third person to first)
Changing the entry or exit points of the story (either starting further back in the timeline or skipping ahead to later in the timeline)
Pruning back exposition or revising places where you lapsed into “telling yourself the story”
Building out your references list or bibliography
Filling in any placeholder gaps you might have left while drafting (like an article you wanted to include, or filling out a “fight scene note” past-you left behind)
Tackle these tasks one at a time, rather than trying to do them all simultaneously. Some require a more creative mindset and others are more clerical attention to detail; it’s easier to use one skill at a time, rather than trying to hold it all in your head at once or switching back and forth between the critical and creative parts of your brain.
Keep a checklist of the items you wanted to review so that as you implement each one, you can check them off and feel a sense of progress — especially if you’re jumping around in your manuscript.
Get feedback
Once you implement the broad strokes pieces that you knew you wanted to address, your manuscript should be in a cleaner state and you’re likely feeling more confident about its merits. This can be a great time to get feedback. Consider running a section by a test audience (such as if you’re writing for kids), a sensitivity reader (if you tackle issues outside your lived experience), or beta readers (who can give you a sense of how readers might engage with your text).
Remember that feedback is just one opinion. It’s important to listen, but equally important to approach possible solutions constructively. The reader’s suggestion may not be the right approach, but they are alerting you of issues that need more attention. If you collect multiple sources of feedback, you also may find that they contradict! When this happens, weigh them against what your goals are as the author and side with what feels truest to your intentions for the book.
Be sure to organize the feedback you get (by chapter, by character, by section, etc.) to make it easier to compare apples to apples. If you send out a list of questions to guide the feedback you receive, you may be able to compare the answers directly to look for patterns, a consensus, or possible solutions. Then you can see which pieces you may want to implement or be inspired to make further changes.
Deeper Self-Editing Tools
When you’re ready for a deeper self-edit, tools that enable you to break the book down into manageable chunks or help your brain to approach the text in a new way will provide motivation and polish. Here are some options:
Read Aloud or Text-to-Speech software
Many word processing programs include this feature, but you can also find app versions to install into your preferred browser. Some are free and some have broader customization options for additional fees. It’s important to visually read along as you listen to get the most out of this review. Read Aloud features force you to slow down (though you can adjust the reading speed), and the AI voice reads literally, which can help you catch errors you hadn’t noticed. This is especially effective for homonyms, typos, missing or duplicated words, run-on sentences, and awkward phrasing. Hearing the text can change the way you engage with it, better approximating your experience as a reader than as the author.
Goal-setting or tracking software
Having a measurable goal can be highly motivating and can help you assess your progress through your self-edits. A tool like TrackBear or Dabble Writer can allow you to set a goal within a certain timeframe to keep you progressing. You can set goals by words written, hours worked, chapters completed, words cut, etc. Try making a checklist for your goals (such as marking off each chapter as you go or by rounds of review for spelling, grammar, flow, timeline, etc.) to make the self-edit less daunting. You can also rely on your page count progress or your word processor’s Word Count tool to see how you’re doing.
Assistive AI tools
In the same way that you may check spelling and grammar in your word processor, you might also employ assistive AI technology like Grammarly, ProWritingAid, or PerfectIt to review your manuscript for a final polish. It’s crucial to carefully review each suggestion these tools make. Some are built for certain audiences or style guides (such as Grammarly being based on AP style for business writing), which may recommend suggestions that aren’t appropriate for your work. However, they can help catch simple errors that slipped through your previous reviews or new errors you introduced in the course of your self-editing. By cleaning up these errors, not only do you create a cleaner, more polished manuscript, you also ensure that your professional editor can focus on the pieces you hadn’t thought of, rather than worrying over a high level of technical errors.
Whichever of these steps you choose to implement, taking the time to self-edit will ensure that what you have to say comes across as clearly and cleanly as possible before moving ahead in your publishing journey. This will improve the substance of your discussions with your editor and heighten your understanding of your book when working on promotions and marketing efforts. While it does mean you need to sustain enthusiasm for drafting a little bit longer — it’s an investment of time and effort that is well worth it. Your readers and reviewers will appreciate a better book!
