September 25, 2026 at 11:02 PM
Some excellent suggestions in the replies, many of which I'll be nicking immediately. My only sure-fire one is to read the whole thing aloud. I sit at a mic, press record, and suddenly I hear a thousand false notes and crunching sentences. 1/
August 14, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Reading the chapters in reverse order – it stops you getting carried away by the story and you spot bad transitions.
Also, I do a run where I isolate each character's parts and read them as a block – ie all character A's sections. Help identify inconsistencies, tropes, weak lines.
Also, I do a run where I isolate each character's parts and read them as a block – ie all character A's sections. Help identify inconsistencies, tropes, weak lines.
August 14, 2025 at 6:46 AM
I always tell myself that jokes don’t really work on their own (outside Christmas crackers and lolly sticks) and that if the scaffolding isn’t holding them up, they won’t get a laugh anyway. Or not as big a laugh as if they’re integral to plot and character.
August 14, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Change the typeface - it helps you see things afresh
Read sections aloud - it can highlight the rough patches
Hone in on those areas which you've known in your heart, from the outset, don't QUITE do the heavy lifting
Maybe relocate (if simply to a different chair) - don't edit where you write
Read sections aloud - it can highlight the rough patches
Hone in on those areas which you've known in your heart, from the outset, don't QUITE do the heavy lifting
Maybe relocate (if simply to a different chair) - don't edit where you write
August 14, 2025 at 8:40 AM
#EditingTips Yesssss! "Cut stuff.doc" is life
I'm a big fan of the second document open to cut and paste stuff I'm deleting so that it feels less of a big deal.
August 14, 2025 at 8:42 AM
#EditingTips Yesssss! "Cut stuff.doc" is life
#EditingTips I love this!
on the rare occasion that I am trimming good stuff I tell myself that speaks to the quality of what's being left behind. good writers should be spoilt for choice
August 14, 2025 at 8:39 AM
#EditingTips I love this!
Don’t read where you write. Leave the house and take your words for a day out.
August 14, 2025 at 7:10 AM
The bit that you think is clever and full of stylish writerly flair is probably better in its simplified form.
August 14, 2025 at 6:46 AM
First drafts are exploration. Revision is architecture. Don’t demand polish from a draft—it’s not a cathedral yet, it’s scaffolding.
#AmWriting #WritingLife #EditingTips #WritersOfBluesky #BookSky
#AmWriting #WritingLife #EditingTips #WritersOfBluesky #BookSky
August 29, 2025 at 11:03 PM
First drafts are exploration. Revision is architecture. Don’t demand polish from a draft—it’s not a cathedral yet, it’s scaffolding.
#AmWriting #WritingLife #EditingTips #WritersOfBluesky #BookSky
#AmWriting #WritingLife #EditingTips #WritersOfBluesky #BookSky
i write my first drafts on a typewriter so i can’t edit as i go & i HAVE to write forward, but when it comes time for the 2nd draft i rewrite & cut while i’m typing it up onto a laptop. what gets into the word document is draft 1.5 since i know the original is still on hard copy & i can be brutal
One more day editing draft zero to turn it into draft one, aka something that's fit for an editor to read. What's your number one self-editing tip?
August 15, 2025 at 9:04 AM
I do one edit for just story.
Then an edit for sentence and structure.
Well at least that is always the plan. Doesn't always work.
Then an edit for sentence and structure.
Well at least that is always the plan. Doesn't always work.
August 14, 2025 at 7:45 AM
#EditingTips I feel called out by this one. Not about flamingos but same vibe
I wrote something years ago that, only when editing, did I discover that I had used a slightly different analogy relating to flamingos in each of the first four chapters. The book had literally nothing to do with flamingos in any way.
August 14, 2025 at 8:52 AM
#EditingTips I feel called out by this one. Not about flamingos but same vibe
It's for an earlier stage in the process, but: for larger edits, I edit by opening a new document next to the old one and rewriting the book. I'm not cutting or losing anything, I'm writing a new thing that gets closer to what I wanted, and might therefore not include some bits! Whenever I edit...
August 15, 2025 at 5:51 AM
September 25, 2026 at 11:10 PM
#editingtips #fiction #amwriting #writingcommunity #writerscommunity inventingrealityediting.com/2...
5 Great Tricks for Using MS Word’s Track Changes
If self-publishing, odds are you’re writing your manuscript in Microsoft Word and probably even formatting it using that software. You’ll likely use Word’s Track Changes function …
inventingrealityediting.com
September 24, 2026 at 4:46 PM
Read aloud. Change font for a temporary visual jolt. Improve verbs and query adjectives and adverbs. #MyTwoCents
August 14, 2025 at 6:46 AM
#editingtips
Everything should have a narrative purpose. Every character, every sentence, setting, pace, rhythm. Everything.
#booksky
Everything should have a narrative purpose. Every character, every sentence, setting, pace, rhythm. Everything.
#booksky
February 1, 2026 at 10:01 PM
#editingtips
Everything should have a narrative purpose. Every character, every sentence, setting, pace, rhythm. Everything.
#booksky
Everything should have a narrative purpose. Every character, every sentence, setting, pace, rhythm. Everything.
#booksky
Search and destroy the word 'just'.
August 14, 2025 at 6:34 AM