Editing Fiction Like a Pro: The 5 Most Common Mistakes That Bog Down Your Narrative
The most common mistakes that bog down an otherwise flowing narrative are easy to avoid or correct when you're editing fiction scenes. These five simple steps will make your writing soar and your readers sit up and take notice.
How to Revise Your Manuscript: Tips from Five Editors
To “kill your darlings” is one of the most difficult tasks an author has to face. Writing a strong novel or non-fiction book often is as much about rewriting and editing as it is about crafting the first draft. Or, to paraphrase Ernest Hemingway: “The only kind of writing is rewriting.”...
Editors’ Tips on Revising Your Manuscript and Query Letter
In this free live webinar, five top Reedsy editors will share their ultimate revision tips and give you the inside scoop on querying agents. If you’re looking to secure a book deal, you must first know how to write the perfect query letter, when it’s best to submit that query, and...
5 Key Questions Writers Should Ask When Revising Writing
As a longtime nonfiction book and magazine editor, I’ve given notes on revising numerous manuscripts and articles. Here's what all writers should know.
4 Marks of Good Writing
How can you tell if a piece of writing is strong? Whether you’re editing for a publishing company, working as a freelancer, or self-editing, correctly assessing the quality of the work is imperative. In this excerpt from The Editor’s Companion, Steve Dunham discusses four marks of good writing and how you can...
A Handy Checklist to Help You Edit Your Writing
This excerpt from The Writer’s Little Helper by James V. Smith Jr., explores the common mistakes that writers make–and how to avoid them. Refer to this checklist when you’re ready to submit your manuscript to an agent or editor. Amateur and Common Mistakes Before you send your manuscript or writing sample...
How to Choose a Story to Write
This excerpt is from James Scott Bell’s new book, Revision and Self-Editing for Publication, 2nd Edition. For a limited time only, you can get the entire book for just $10! Which Story Should I Write? The first editing question you need to ask is, Which story do I select to turn...
4 Ways to Revise as You Write
Writers differ in their opinions of the revision process. Some balk at it–they see it as the “no fun” part of writing, and much prefer drafting and creation to fixing and rethinking. Other writers embrace the process and consider it an act of strengthening, polishing, and ultimately making their novel the...
Writing Fiction: The Three Types of Lead Characters
Today’s writing tip comes from Write Great Fiction: Revision & Self-Editing by James Scott Bell. If you are writing a fiction book, you’ll need to create a strong lead character for your story and one readers can relate to. Writing Lead Characters There are three types of Lead characters: The Positive...
How to Overcome Writer’s Block Like a Bestselling Author
Writers everywhere have or will lack writing inspiration. Whether you need help to overcome writer’s block, or are simply looking for inspiration for writing, read our today’s tip, taken from Write Great Fiction: Revision and Self-Editing by James Scott Bell. We all have times in our writing when the words get...
Two Hours with #1 Bestselling Author Jerry B. Jenkins TOMORROW!
If you write, then chances are you struggle with revision and self-editing. It can be a sometimes arduous process – but the joy you feel when you nail it, when your words come together like pieces of a puzzle and snap perfectly into place makes all the effort worthwhile. If you’d...