With all the writing we do, that much more time is spent editing.
In editing Legend of the Protectors, my first manuscript, I went through it with a specific task in mind each time.
First, I went through for passiveness, trying to take out as many TO BE verbs as possible and replacing them with stronger words. The TO BE verbs are ARE, IS, WAS, WERE… They are sometimes necessary, so don’t take them all out, but if you’re new to this, you will want to see if taking them out won’t make the story stronger.
Some examples:
Passive: Sam was sitting in the chair watching Andrew.
Active: Sam sat in the chair watching Andrew.
Okay, I know these are weak, but you get the idea.
Next thing I did was to go through and look for REPETITIVE words. (On both of these use the find/search feature–or you can simple read through, but you’ll see, if you use find/search, that you’ve missed a lot.)
I had many words, that I wouldn’t think I used tons, used TONS. So if you use SO 352 times, you might want to take some of them out. (Yes, I used SO that many times.)
Now, what are some common writing mistakes that you want to avoid? SoYouWanna.com has listed them here for you, and linked to more detail on each one. I will post them again, but encourage you to read the links.
1. MAKE YOUR SUBJECTS AND VERBS AGREE.
2. MAKE PRONOUNS AND ANTECEDENTS AGREE.
5. USE SIMILAR WORDS CORRECTLY. (Like accept and except.)
7. STOP MISUSING “HOPEFULLY”. (This is one I just learned. And yep, I have to go fix it.)
So here you have a place to start. Take things one step at a time, and it will make things easier. And soon, you’ll see the mistakes, and fix them without having to LOOK for them. And one day, as you continue to write and practice your skills, you simply won’t make them.
Here’s to EDITING! Good luck!
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Sarah is writer looking for an agent. She is currently working on novel # 4, editing novels 2 and 3, and querying novel # 1. For more insight to her work, visit: http://legendoftheprotectors.wordpress.com/ or http://legendoftheprotectors.blogspot.com/
5 Comments so far
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The “to be” thing cracks me up, not only because it rings so true, but because I had a wonderful writing professor with a policy that you should not be able to lay your hand on the page and touch more than one “to be” verb at once.
He didn’t enforce the rule too strictly, probably in part because his 6′7″ ex-basketball player frame (I kid you not) had hands that were, oh, roughly page-sized.
[Reply]
By Anica Lewis on 11.04.09 10:40 am | Permalink
LOL. Sometimes, it makes for smoother reading. Sometimes, to be is necessary. But more times than not, it’s just weak and lazy.
I still struggle with it on some levels.
[Reply]
By Sarah on 11.04.09 11:36 am | Permalink
My editing secret is to use the AutoCrit Editing Wizard. It finds all those overused words and passive writing with one click of a button.
I love it and it saves me a ton of time!
[Reply]
By Jay Tee on 11.04.09 12:50 pm | Permalink
Sounds like a nice tool, Jay Tee, but for me, I feel like I learn the writing process better when I actively look for mistakes. I’m less likely to continue to make them in other writings. Less work after the first draft if I’ve studied over previous MSs.
[Reply]
By Sarah on 11.04.09 1:02 pm | Permalink
Hepefully I did not misuse hopefully a lot in my MS. I mean, I hope I did not misuse hopefully a lot in my MS.
Joyce´s last blog ..Writing the Where
[Reply]
By Joyce on 11.04.09 10:47 pm | Permalink
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