AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
My writing editing checklist4/11/2024 ![]() Try to stick to “I” voice or “you” voice throughout one piece of writing.Īnd if you must switch, start with one and finish with the other. For example, you might start your introduction talking about yourself, then switch halfway through the piece and start addressing the reader. Sometimes it’s necessary to use both first and second person, but that can be jarring for readers. ![]() The screen door didn’t shut noisily, it banged shut.įind a more powerful verb to replace the weak verb + weak -ly adverb combo. Instead of describing the cat as walking slowly, say he creeps or tiptoes. Rather than saying the girl runs quickly, say she sprints. ![]() ly words)Īdverbs weaken your copy because these excess words are not truly descriptive. See what I mean? If you spot a comma-heavy sentence, try to give each idea its own sentence. But long sentences often contain several ideas, so they can easily lose the reader’s focus because they don’t provide a break, leading readers to get stuck or lose interest, and perhaps the reader might get bored and go watch TV instead. Many long sentences are grammatically correct. To sign up for this free training, click here. I tried to make it clear from the scene that it was internal dialogue, but this is my personal choice.The Write Life has teamed up with Self-Publishing School to create this presentation, “How to Write & Publish Your Book in 90 Days.” In it, you’ll learn how to finish your book in just 30 minutes per day. When I took a hard look at what I was trying to accomplish in a scene, I didn’t need the italics when my point of view character was thinking. I decided to use italics only when showing a text message in my novel. The last two items on my self-editing checklist involve the use of italics and I find it way easier to spot italics when I’ve printed a document and then scan each line using a ruler or piece of paper. I encourage you to do your own research, and see what your favourite authors do when it comes to italics. I didn’t find a hard and fast rule, so this is based on my preference. I’ve noticed there are some opposing views around the use of italics and whether or not you should use them when people are thinking. Thank you search function.again! What about italics? When I started writing my draft I had it in my head I wanted to use American spelling, but when I was editing, I decided to use Canadian spelling since the book is set in Canada. How do you spell that, again?Īnother spelling issue only this time with alternate spellings of words rather than names. Just be sure to search for the spelling without the “s” otherwise your software won’t pick out those words without the “s” on the end if you only search for the version with the “s” on the end. Again, easily fixed by using the search function. Thanks for the tip Sally! Is it toward or towards?īoth are correct, but you want to make sure that whichever word you use, you use it consistently. This is another quick fix, thanks to the search function and it’s easy to check for it at the same time you are looking for unnecessary use of the word “that”. For example, at the beginning of my sentence I could have incorrectly said, “One of my beta readers that also happens to be a proofreader”. One of my beta readers, who also happens to be a proofreader, pointed out to me that when I’m referring to people, I should use “who” rather than “that”. I feel like using “that” is a stylistic choice, and I prefer to use it as little as possible, so I used my search function to eliminate as many “that’s” as possible. ![]() In university, I had a linguistics professor that really disliked the use of the word “that” and he drilled it into us that there are actually very few times its use is necessary. In these three programs, you get to the search function by holding the control key (on a PC) and typing “f” for find. I’ve used this function in Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and InDesign. This is an easy fix using the “find” or “find and replace” function in you software. Make sure you are consistent with your names, because careful readers will pick up on this. While I was editing, I was horrified to discover that I had spelled Gayle two different ways throughout my book (Gayle and Gail). The first item on my list is consistent spelling of names. Every writer has their own “ticks” or mistakes that they commonly make. Google Keep is the best for checklists! I’ll be discussing why I’ve included each item, but I recommend you come up with your own checklist for the items you commonly miss. I’ve included my own personal Google Keep note at the top of this post so you can see what my checklist looks like.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |