If you’re a new writer and you’ve just finished drafting your first WIP, you might be overwhelmed by the amount of work you’ve yet to face in the revision stage, also known as self-editing. But if you have the correct strategy, tackling the revision stage doesn’t have to be so anxiety inducing. In this series, I’ll be sharing some basic self-editing tips for new writers, with just 3 at a time so you can look at them little by little and make the self-editing stage feel a little more palatable.
It doesn’t have to be a massive hurdle. Instead, take it in little steps.
After all, like my martial arts sensei used to say: ‘How do you eat an elephant? A bite at a time.’
So here’s the first few bites of the elephant to get you comfortable in attacking your first self-edit.
Take a break
The first important part of self-editing that new writers often overlook is taking a break from your work before diving head-on into revisions. Rooted in cognitive psychology and education theory, research has shown that taking breaks between tasks can enhance cognitive performance and problem-solving abilities. It’s the same for writing a book and then editing it. When you've spent months or even years immersed in the creation of a manuscript, your brain becomes used to your writing patterns and the ideas you've developed. You know what you want it to say. By stepping away from your writing for a designated period—ideally a week or more—you let your brain rest and break away from these patterns and can look at your work with fresh eyes again.
This step is crucial for the self-editing process. Without it, you risk overlooking errors, inconsistencies, and areas for improvement because your mind remains in the drafting mode. Don’t worry. This break isn’t procrastination. It’s an essential part of the process that will enhance the quality of your writing.
Cut unnecessary content
People are often over explainers. Oftentimes in writing we’ll overwrite or add a lot of repetition or explanations, thinking out readers might not get the concept. But trust yourself, and trust your reader. Step two I recommend to be just reading through and looking for areas you can cut. This can include whole chapters if you think they don’t work (something scary to do), or whole paragraphs, or even just lines. It’s amazing where trimming just a few words or lines can cut down on your wordcount and really tighten up the writing.
Trim down your sentences to make them more concise. Look for redundant phrases, filler words*, and unnecessary adjectives or adverbs that don't add value to your writing.
*Example filler words you can cut from your writing
That
Just
Really
Very
Actually
Literally
Honestly / to be honest
Basically
Kind of / sort of
In order to
Of course
So
Well
Anyway
You know
I mean
In fact
Needless to say
(I will add a note though that if it’s in dialogue and sounds authentic, you’re allowed to keep them!)
Focus on one aspect at a time
Be patient on yourself. Instead of trying to tackle everything at once and possibly missing crucial areas for development in the process, focus on specific elements during each round of editing. I’m sure you’ve heard of the cognitive psychology term ‘chunking’, which involves breaking larger, more complex tasks down into manageable chunks or similar pieces of work.
How can you use this in your self-editing? For example, in one pass, concentrate solely on grammar and punctuation, while in another, focus on clarity and helping people understand your message. Then do another read-through just looking at whether the dialogue and inner monologue if you have them sounds realistic.
Doing it step by step like this will feel like a lot of work. ‘I have to read through it how many times?’ But trust me, this way is much more efficient and effective in the long run, as you’ll have a mind for looking for just that one ‘chunk’ and can focus much better on what you’re editing.
Getting into the self-editing flow
You’ll get used to self-editing in no time. By following basic self-editing tips like these, you’ll start getting used to putting structure in your editing life. Rather than the fun, creative drafting stage, this is the stage to be more analytical, really thinking about what helps the overall message and story of your writing. You’ve got to make that shift from drafting mode to analytical mode.
Take it easy, take it step-by-step. You’ll have a much better piece of work at the end of it.
And stay tuned for Part 2, where I’ll share 3 more self-editing tips for new writers with you for the next stage of the self-editing process.
Question for the readers: what are your best self-editing tips?
What experiences have you had with self-editing? What was the most difficult part of it? Comment below and let each other know what you found helpful when you were in the self-editing process.
