This month's theme is perfectly timed since I recently returned from the Public Safety Writers Association Conference (PSWA) in Las Vegas. In addition to meeting and hearing from police officers, PIs, firefighters, 9-1-1 dispatchers, hazmat responders, military personnel, a postal inspector, SWAT members, and more about their jobs and experiences, I participated in a panel titled "Perfecting Your Writing. " Thanks to my fellow panelists, I am able to provide a selection of #writing tricks and tools for your perusal. Below, you'll probably find something old , something new , definitely a lot borrowed , and a bit of blue . Without further ado... From Thonie Hevron SmartEdit is wonderful free software that takes some of the pain out of culling those oft-repeated words. You can pre-set your own filters. I always use this. Hemingway is a fee-based (free online and app is one-time $19.99 and well worth it) program that identifies confusing and complicated sentenc...

While editing, yes, be the "editor," but also be the "reader." What do you, as reader, think of the story? When I teach Writing for the Media, I talk a lot about audience. It's the first thing we talk about at the start of the semester, and as we move through our writing projects - traditional news stories, features, radio and TV commercial scripts, and mini advertising and public relations campaigns - I sprinkle audience across each project. From the pre-writing, research, legwork phases of their projects to the revising and editing, the students keep their focus on audience. Like I tell my students, we live in a fast-paced, technological society, and readers can go to any number of outlets - offline and online - to receive information. What are you going to do to make sure readers are reading you?  If the students aren't focused on their readers, those readers will definitely not be focused on them. Image by marin from FreeDigitalPhotos.net Fict...

While Kathryn continues her Art of Falling blog tour elsewhere, we'd like to welcome special guest Janice Gable Bashman—published nonfiction author, soon-to-be published fiction author, and editor—to the Blood-Red Pencil. Fiction and non-fiction are two different beasts when it comes to editing. I’m the Bram Stoker nominated author of Wanted Undead or Alive, and I’ve published articles in Writer’s Digest, Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market, The Writer, and many other publications. I’m also managing editor of the International Thriller Writer’s The Big Thrill , so I edit a lot. But when it comes to editing fiction, I have to wear a different hat. In editing my own short stories (published in various anthologies), my young adult science thriller Predator (coming October 2014; Month9Books), and the middle grade novel I’m wrapping up now, I’ve had to look beyond copy editing, fact-checking, sentence structure, etc. and check other items. I’m not talking about big develop...

This post, originally published on February 25, 2011, is chock full of advice that will ensure that you are communicating well with your readers.  As your reader engages with the first of your 100,000 words, she wonders where to look for meaning. She seeks clues that will orient her. And she is counting on you as author to point the way toward the material that is most important. First let me say this: all your words should be important. But while all words must serve a function, you’ll want some information or images to linger. Here are some of the tools authors use to throw a spotlight on the most important info, with some links to previous BRP posts that explore these techniques further: Word count The more words you devote to a character or situation, the more important the reader will expect it to be. This is as true for a paragraph as it is a whole book. A telling detail Whether an anachronism or the only detail offered, one detail made prominent will stick in t...

I’ve been reading a discussion on an apparent lack of editing in traditionally published books. According to the comments, errors abound in at least some of the works that come out of the big houses. This is disturbing because a lot of us who choose to self-publish look to traditional publishing as a model. On the other hand, it opens a door of opportunity for us to leave our mark on the reading public. Whether we’re going for the hard-copy market or running headlong into the e-book age, we who self-pub can control the quality of our books and build a fan base that appreciates an error-free, great story. In the past, we’ve discussed the importance of self-editing as the first step on the road to publication. That importance is even more essential now as poor quality books seep into the marketplace from previously revered publishers. Typically, self-editing is accomplished by careful reading and rereading of our manuscripts to find errors. The downside of this method is we know...

This post originally appeared on Blood-Red Pencil in November 2008. One of the best things you can do to make the most of your editor's time is to ensure that you proofread your manuscript as thoroughly as you can beforehand. Does this seem like a bizarre statement to you? After all, the job of the editor is to edit and/or proofread, isn't it? But consider the issue more carefully. Many editors work on an hourly rate even if they charge per project. A good editor knows approximately how long it will take her to work on a manuscript of a certain length, and she factors this into her rates. Is the manuscript you send to your editor filled with extra spaces where you hit the spacebar too hard, rogue punctuation that has been left over from odd sentences you deleted, inconsistent use of quotation marks, characters' names in lower case because you forgot to press "Shift", simple spelling and grammar errors, and typos that are due to your fingers accidentally hittin...

By now you have hopefully begun to develop an objective, and positive, attitude towards your own writing. You're ready to give yourself a critique. This is a valuable self-assessment that will show you whether your work is ready for an editor, or whether it first needs some more work. Start your self-assessment with a straight read through from beginning to end, as if you're reading any other novel - but keep a notebook or computer file open at hand for your notes. Make brief corrections if you spot them, and make quick notes if you think of something to change or check, and also record your thoughts about the plot and characters as you're reading. Most important for your own self esteem is to make a comment whenever you really like something. These points can help later on if you become overly critical. Revising and rewriting After the first reading comes the revision phase. Think about the word "re-vision" in this context: to view again, but also to reassess you...

Yesterday we started looking at self-critiquing and finding the balance between being too harsh a (self) critic and being too lenient. So how do you develop an objective approach to critiquing and editing? First, let's look at what it means to "critique". The words "critical" and "criticism" sometimes have negative connotations, and by extension, so does the word "critique". Some people prefer to use words like "review", "comment", "assess", "appraise", or "report on" when they talk about critiquing, to soften the "criticism" aspect of it. Bear these alternative terms in mind when you look at your own work, as a different word can sometimes alter your perspective a little. Critiquing a manuscript involves a number of aspects, some of which are opposites. These include checking for errors such as spelling, typos, and factual or continuity mistakes; checking for word usage - anything ...

Self-critiquing is a very valuable skill to develop. Proofreading your manuscript before sending it to another editor has huge benefits in terms of freeing your editor to work on the content of your manuscript rather than having to spend much of the time allocated correcting your errors. But you also need to be able to judge your own story for continuity, clarity, and quality. However it's also very difficult to think neutrally about something you've written yourself. Many writers fall into one of two groups when re-reading their manuscript: either being too soft on their flaws and thinking everything they've put down on paper is perfect as it is; or being overly critical, sometimes to the point of deleting much of their work in frustration. Finding a balance is important, because there's little point trying to edit your own work if you're not viewing it from a clear and honest perspective. Thankfully, critical reading, even of your own work, can improve with prac...

Here with the rest of her tips on what she learned by rewriting one of her books is romance author, Ginger Simpson: Some of the other things I noticed that weakened my book, White Heart, Lakota Spirit included: *Overdone words. Starting too many sentences with "Oh," and "Well." Honestly, what was I thinking? Was my editor snoozing? In rewriting and eliminating those it has improved the flow of the story immensely. *Having action and reaction out of sync. Action comes before reaction. Sometimes you have to stop and think about how to word a sentence so you show the reader what happened before you show the character's reaction. You can't have someone jump before the gun fires...well you can if you want, but it isn't correct. *Internal thoughts. This story was fraught with way too many. I've since learned that most publishers prefer having very few internal thoughts. Publishers would rather the writer use dialogue or simply pose questions for the reade...

The Blood Red Pencil is pleased to welcome romance author, Ginger Simpson, for a couple of guest blogs. She originally wrote a version of this for her own blog, and we thought it would be helpful for other writers to read what she experienced in doing a rewrite of an older book. So, without any further comment, here is Ginger: I recently reclaimed the rights to one of my previously published books, White Heart, Lakota Spirit , which I wrote in 2005. During our last camping trip, it was so uncomfortably hot, I stayed in the camper and wanted something to read. I pulled out my copy of Lakota Spirit and read it -- this time as a reader. Wow. I couldn't believe how differently I would have written the book today, so rather than renew my contract, I asked to have the rights revert back to me. I wanted to redo the story and eliminate such mistakes as: *Describing a person's voice before they speak. We all know that tags should follow the dialogue, especially when you're writing...

Unlike editors in large houses, who get only the best manuscripts from new writers or yet another story from an established author, we who work outside the traditional publishing system find our clients among writers of varying abilities and experience. They may not have a famous name or multitudes of fans waiting in line to purchase their book, but they want both. So we become teachers, mentors, mothers (or fathers), cheering sections, and shoulders to cry on. In fact, we wear a whole wardrobe of hats needed by our clients. Do we rewrite? On occasion we may choose to share an example of what is needed to clarify or improve a passage or scene. Yet, should our client decide to use our words rather than rework a weak area, we must make sure those words reflect the writer’s voice. That acquired skill of seamlessly imitating another’s voice separates the best of us from the crowd. What is writer’s voice? A combination of elements including sentence structure, dialogue, use of punctuation, ...

When I joined the fine editors here at The Blood-Red Pencil, Dani asked me to review editing books. Since then, I've been wading through different books, looking for one I could both recommend and use for my own editing. After many months of disappointing starts, I found one: Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers Renni Browne and Dave King Quill Publishing copyright 1993 ISBN: 0-06-272046-5 paperback non-fiction This book has everything I've been looking for: descriptions and examples of non-grammar editing, followed by suggested writing/editing exercises (with sample results). Who could ask for more? The short introduction describes the changes in the publishing industry and the resulting burden placed on writers to present edited manuscripts to agents and publishers. The authors do not believe self-editing can replace professional editing. In fact, the authors make a point of thanking their editors and suggest that ...

 Story arc. Does it have a beginning, middle, and end? Does the protagonist grow and evolve? Is there a sense of narrative that flows smoothly, without gaps or requiring mountain goat-like intuitive leaps on the reader's part?  Point of view. Writer Greg Frost suggests that writers "tell the story from the point of view of the character who hurts the most," and there's a lot of wisdom in that approach. As a writer, you're looking at one of the worst moments in your character's life, and how he or she got through those moments and learned and grew from them. If your character isn't the most appealing person onstage, readers may stop caring about the story you're trying to tell.  Language. This isn't just about grammar. How's the writer's control of sentence structure and pacing? Do too many sentences sound the same? Are there quirky, overused words or phrases? Is the language too passive in places?  Dialogue. Do the characters s...

Dear Editors- “I think one of the hardest things to do is self-editing. Invariably, no matter how hard you try, there is always something you overlook or miss. What is your advice on how to get the most out of self-editing? What are the most important things a writer should look for when they edit?” Christine Verstraete, author, Searching For A Starry Night, A Miniature Art Mystery *** This is the last post in a four-part series. To read the previous posts, click on Third , Second , and First . Today I have three words for you. Cut the fat. Stephen King, my writing-style mentor, recommends that your self-editing reduce your manuscript’s total word count by at least 10 percent. Cut the fat and get to the meat of the story. Here’s an example: Mary decided that enough was enough and that John had abused her just one too many times. She decided then and there that she must stand up for herself. She quickly snatched the rolling pin that she had on the counter and slammed him very hard, righ...

Dear Editors- “I think one of the hardest things to do is self-editing. Invariably, no matter how hard you try, there is always something you overlook or miss. What is your advice on how to get the most out of self- editing? What are the most important things a writer should look for when they edit?” Christine Verstraete, author, Searching For A Starry Night, A Miniature Art Mystery *** If you missed it and want to catch up with Lesson One, Click Here. And now Lesson Two-- Use the Word tools, “Track Changes,” and “Spelling and Grammar” to do the following: • Eliminate repetitious words. Look for words used more than twice or thrice in close proximity. Switch on Track Changes, and then click on “Edit.” Use the “Find” feature to locate those words everywhere in your manuscript. Have your thesaurus handy or up on your browser, and use it to replace repeated words with appropriate synonyms. An exception to this practice is if you have a character with a quirky trait of using a certain word...

Dear Editors- “I think one of the hardest things to do is self-editing. Invariably, no matter how hard you try, there is always something you overlook or miss. What is your advice on how to get the most out of self-editing? What are the most important things a writer should look for when they edit?” Christine Verstraete, author, Searching For A Starry Night, A Miniature Art Mystery *** This is a comprehensive question and subject, so for the sake of blogging brevity I am writing a four-part series of short posts to address it properly. You can do the obvious things, like checking for grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors. Everyone uses spell-check these days, but that is no guarantee you do not have “wrong” words in your manuscript. Spell-check will not correct things like “too” where it should be “to,” or “then” when it should be “than,” or “you” where “your” should be. So there is no substitute for good old-fashioned reading your manuscript with a critical eye. After completing a...