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Editing Tips Part 1: Top Five
You’ve finished writing, and now it’s time to start editing. Most likely, you’ll work with a professional editor further along in the process, but for now, self-edits are the next step. Where is the best place to start? Josha’s editors have come together once again to provide you with a few tips to make the Read more
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Editing Tips Part 2: Story Structure
As many writers often encounter, there are numerous schools of thought when it comes to the drafting process. Fellow writers have opinions about whether or not you should edit as you write, if you should plot your story in its entirety before you write a single word or simply start writing and let the characters Read more
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Editing Tips Part 3: The Hero’s Journey
For many writers, when trying to assess if their story “works” yet or is ready for the next stage of editing, they find themselves in a balancing act of developmental editing. On one side, there’s the plot’s progression; on the other, there’s the development and journey of one’s main character. While you can use Freytag’s Read more
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Editing Tips Part 4: Developmental Editing
When it comes to editing a manuscript, what most people readily think of are the classic red marks that correct grammar or typos: copy editing. And while copy editing is crucial, before you reach that stage, there’s another phase of editing: developmental editing. In our previous two posts in our editing series, we’ve shared some Read more
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Editing Tips Part 5: Copy Editing
So, you’ve had a great story in your head and written it out, and you’ve decided you want to share it with the world. After you’ve shared it with beta readers and the manuscript has undergone developmental editing, all of which is more focused on the story itself rather than the elements of spelling, grammar, Read more
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Editing Tips Part 6: Proofreading
Congratulations! You have a finished manuscript; you’ve been through possibly many rounds of editing, and your overall story as well as the word choice and sentence structure are now finished. It’s been a long journey, but you’re finally ready to publish. Well, almost. There’s one final editing step before you put your story into the Read more
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Editing Tips Part 7: Types of Editors
So far in our editing tips series, we’ve shared some tips and tricks for how you can self-edit your manuscript. However, we always recommend working with a professional editor prior to querying if you’re aiming to acquire a contract with an independent or traditional publisher; if you’re planning to self-publish, we absolutely encourage you to Read more
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Editing Tips Part 8: Sensitivity Reading
Sensitivity reading is a term becoming more common in the writing community, but what does it mean? A sensitivity reader is someone who has experience in a certain situation or condition and understands and is able to communicate areas of misunderstanding, stereotyping, or bias regarding a particular topic. These situations, conditions, or topics could range Read more
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Editing Tips Part 9: Finding the Right Editor
As we mentioned in the seventh installment of our Editing Tips series, there are many different types of editors. Many writers wonder if they really need every type of editor, and our answer is that while every manuscript needs each stage of editing, it’s not strictly necessary for each book to be edited by every Read more
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Editing Tips Part 10: Showing vs Telling
In the realm of self-editing and receiving alpha and beta reader feedback, there’s one discussion that’s almost always present: showing versus telling. An element of both developmental editing as well as copy editing, a writer’s ability to know when to implement showing a reader what’s unfolding as opposed to outright telling them can be a Read more
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Editing Tips Part 11: Plotting, Outlining, & Writing it Out
It can happen in a flash. One minute, you’re going about your daily life, and the next, a glimpse of a new story zips through your imagination: characters and their lives and a world you never previously imagined take over your mind. Before you even realize what’s happening, these fragments start to take shape as Read more
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Editing Tips Part 12: Worrying about Word Count
Whether you’re considering writing for the very first time or have been drafting for years, there’s one question that crops up with every project: how long should your manuscript be? Depending on your manuscript’s category—short story, novella, or novel—there are some industry standards to aim for, but even those standards include a wide range with Read more
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Editing Tips Part 13: Key Differences Between Drafting & Editing
In the writing community, you can find many conversations about recommended methods for drafting and editing your manuscript. However, for many writers, there can be difficulty identifying the difference between the two. After all, the terms are often used interchangeably, yet in practice, drafting and editing are inherently distinctive stages of the writing process. Our Read more
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