Book Editing

Most popular posts

A model modeling the effects of great tension in writing.

How to Use Tension in Writing

Tension can arise from anywhere — in a simple conversation, a family dinner, a job interview, or even with a...

A collection of word magnets representing the idea that all language is invented, including made-up words.

The Purpose of Made-Up Words in Stories

Have you ever read a book and come across a word you’d never heard or seen before? At first, you...

A sea of people, all of whom might share a voice in the fourth person point of view.

Fourth Person Point of View

Fourth person point of view is a unique and rarely used perspective in stories.  First person gives us “I.” Second...

A character waves at the camera, which is a sign of a writer not knowing how to introduce a character.

How to Introduce a Character: 5 Key Methods

A character’s introduction is one of the most important parts of your story. Done well, your reader can make a...

A fencing match is one of many scenes you can write once you know how to write a fight scene.

How to Write a Fight Scene in 6 Steps

Learning how to write a fight scene isn’t really about choreography. It’s about tension and what’s truly at stake for...

An eye peering through a page, symbolizing a point of view in literature.

Point of View in Literature

There is no “correct” approach to point of view in literature. Your sole consideration is how you want your reader...

A picture of a pan next to a marked up page to visualize copy editing
Blog
Alan Watt

Copy Editing

Copy editing is a specific type of editing that focuses on both the technical aspects of your writing and the overall flow:

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Blog
Alan Watt

Proofreading Marks

Proofreading marks are symbols used to denote corrections to a manuscript. Many editors today use “track changes” features on various software programs

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A hand writing on papers with a red pen suggests the romance that can be found in the process of proofreading work
Blog
Alan Watt

Proofreading

While your Editing Checklist is about clarity and pacing, and your Rewrite is about adjusting the structure and polishing character development in

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Painting escaping criticism by Caso utilized here to suggest a feeling that learning constructive criticism and how to employ it appropriately will allow the author to escape criticism effectively
Blog
Alan Watt

Constructive Criticism

One of the most important skills you’ll learn as a writer is how to take constructive criticism.  Feedback is an instrumental part

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A writer is trying to rewrite a simple thing on a notepad with crumpled pieces of paper all around. Beauty and lightness are evoked in the frame, suggesting this as a necessary process.
Blog
Alan Watt

The Rewrite

Once you’ve completed an editing checklist on your manuscript, you may find that your story requires a more substantial rewrite.  Often dreaded

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Conflating Characters
Blog
Alan Watt

Conflating Characters

Sometimes we’ve written characters that don’t belong in our story because their function is redundant. Conflict might arise that don’t add anything

Read More »
Own Your Work
Blog
Alan Watt

Own Your Work

Just because you might be a first-time novelist, it doesn’t mean you’re not the authority over your work. No agent, publisher, or

Read More »
The Rewrite
Blog
Alan Watt

Approaching the Rewrite

 The first draft is about diving into the unknown, invoking the muse, and writing from our right brains. The next step, the

Read More »

Recent posts

A matchstick not burned compared to the others around it suggests that collaborative editing allows one to keep themselves where others lose themselves

Collaborative Editing: How to Receive Feedback Without Losing Your Voice

Collaborative editing goes beyond the technical aspects. It’s a partnership to make your work the best it can be. Writing...

A group of people sit around a campfire to suggest the heartfelt nature of involving a sensitivity reader in the creative process

The Benefit of Sensitivity Readers

You’ve written something brave, but it explores areas you’re concerned might potentially offend a specific group of people or culture....

Four books are sat up in hand together and all look similar to another to suggest the four stages of editing the same book, a parallel for book editing

The 4 Stages of Book Editing 

You finished a polished draft of your manuscript. Congratulations! That is a huge accomplishment, and I’m going to tell you...

People gather around material in a professional work setting to suggest the value of a critique circle to professional effort

The Critique Circle Every Serious Writer Eventually Needs

Is there value in joining a critique circle?  Writing is one of the most solitary of all professions. You sit...

People surrounded a paper with highlighter and pen to suggest a light collaborative and beautiful feeling to line editing as a process

Line Editing: Transform Good Writing Into Great Writing

Perhaps you’ve been working hard on your rewrite, but something is still off and you’re not quite sure how to...

A messy, unfocused mix of paints suggests that revising vs. editing must be clearly defined to work reasonably in the scope of a piece of writing

Revising vs. Editing: Why Mixing Them Up Is Costing More Than You Think

You might be wondering, Aren’t revising and editing the same thing? They’re not. There’s actually an important distinction.  Let’s say...

A picture of a pan next to a marked up page to visualize copy editing

Copy Editing

Copy editing is a specific type of editing that focuses on both the technical aspects of your writing and the...

Proofreading Marks

Proofreading marks are symbols used to denote corrections to a manuscript. Many editors today use “track changes” features on various...

A hand writing on papers with a red pen suggests the romance that can be found in the process of proofreading work

Proofreading

While your Editing Checklist is about clarity and pacing, and your Rewrite is about adjusting the structure and polishing character...

Painting escaping criticism by Caso utilized here to suggest a feeling that learning constructive criticism and how to employ it appropriately will allow the author to escape criticism effectively

Constructive Criticism

One of the most important skills you’ll learn as a writer is how to take constructive criticism.  Feedback is an...

A writer is trying to rewrite a simple thing on a notepad with crumpled pieces of paper all around. Beauty and lightness are evoked in the frame, suggesting this as a necessary process.

The Rewrite

Once you’ve completed an editing checklist on your manuscript, you may find that your story requires a more substantial rewrite. ...

The most important editing checklist for writers is the one that allows them to balance their lives against their work and keep their clarity in the final product

An Editing Checklist for Writers

Refine your manuscript with this essential editing checklist. Learn how to edit a book by paring down prose and polishing...
Someone reading a book in nature on fire, a suggestion that without proper management a work can burn up in the hands of a beta reader.

Beta Readers: Finding Trusted Insight for Your Work

Beta readers help writers feel safe to fall deeper into their work. Balance the proximity that your beta readers might...
Getting Notes

Getting Notes – Ten Things to Consider

I got an email this morning from one of my students who just received a pile of notes on her...

Banishing Redundancies

Banishing Redundancies

Redundancy is not only a sign of lazy writing; it can also pull us out of the story by interrupting...

Conflating Characters

Conflating Characters

Sometimes we’ve written characters that don’t belong in our story because their function is redundant. Conflict might arise that don’t...

Own Your Work

Own Your Work

Just because you might be a first-time novelist, it doesn’t mean you’re not the authority over your work. No agent,...

The Rewrite

Approaching the Rewrite

 The first draft is about diving into the unknown, invoking the muse, and writing from our right brains. The next...