There are two ways to get better at writing. The first way to improve is to practice writing so that your first drafts are better. It’s a lot of work but well worth the investment. The second way to improve your writing is to learn how to edit your first draft so your second draft is better.

Both techniques are important for authors who are improving in their craft. Beginning authors often feel like the second draft is just a different version of the first draft, but that doesn’t need to be the case. You can learn how to become a better self-editor and turn your not-so-good first draft into a much better second draft. It won’t keep you from needing an editor, but it will improve the quality of your writing.

How can you learn how to proofread your own manuscript?

I asked Denise Loock, general editor for Iron Stream Media and the director of PENCON, the annual conference for Christian editors and proofreaders.

Thomas: Many people think there’s only one kind of editing, and they need to get an editor, and then their book will be done. But that’s not the case.

What are the different kinds of editing?

Developmental Edit

Denise: Proofreading is the end of the road when it comes to editing. Proofreaders check for punctuation, spelling, and typos, but you need an editor for various kinds of editing. You may have to start with a developmental editor who helps you determine whether your idea is a book or an article idea. A developmental editor helps you develop the content.

Thomas: Developmental editors help you hone your ideas. If you’re writing nonfiction, they’ll help you be more persuasive. They’re not coaching you on good paragraphs; they’re helping you structure good chapters and compelling ideas.

A developmental editor will help a novelist develop good characters, so it’s a big-picture edit.

I like to think of developmental editors as the Air Force. They’re blowing up the big things. They’re not the boots on the ground, taking the trenches face to face with the typos.

Denise: Right. And the developmental editor will help novelists with the story arc. They help nonfiction authors determine what to leave out of the book.

Content Edit

Denise: After your developmental edit, you’ll have a content edit. A content editor will review what should and shouldn’t be in the chapters and how the story arc plays out.

Copy Edit

Denise: Next, your copy editor will edit your sentences and paragraphs, and finally, a proofreader goes along with the polishing cloth.

Thomas: Different kinds of editors use different tools. Developmental editors typically use Microsoft Word to insert or compile their comments on various parts of the book.

A copy editor uses the track changes tool to add that comma so you can see exactly where the comma was added.

Proofreading Edit

Thomas: Between the copy edit and the proofreading, the book is converted from a Word document to a PDF. The proofreader typically gives you a punch list, which is a list of changes like, “The third paragraph on page two needs a comma after the word….”  Making punch list changes is tedious, so it is to your advantage to give your copy editor the cleanest copy you can produce. Ideally, the proofreader doesn’t change much because it’s a hassle to change things. At that point in the process, the typesetter has to edit the PDF of the typeset document to make the change.

Denise: Your careful attention to editing in the early stages will make your proofreader’s job easier. That’s the goal: Don’t give your proofreader a job, basically.

Thomas: But the proofreader will never be out of work because typos always

work their way in.

How can the author self-edit so they can deliver the cleanest manuscript possible to the professionals?

Thomas: How can an author do a better job looking at that first draft and restructuring the plot or ideas?

Denise: First, look at your word count. If your book is 400,000 words long, you have a huge problem on your hands. Most books are much shorter than that. In fact, the Steve Laube Agency blog has a wonderful post on what your word count should be for all the various genres.

In a developmental edit, it’s important to review each chapter and identify its main point.

• What do I want the reader to take away from this chapter?
• What should they take away from the next chapter?

If you can’t pinpoint the main point, you have a problem.

For anyone writing nonfiction, I highly recommend reading Writing Successful Self-Help and How-To Books (Affiliate Link) by Jean Marie Stein. You might think, “I don’t write self-help or how-to books,” but if you’re writing nonfiction, you essentially are. The goal is to help the reader accomplish something or solve a problem. Stein effectively guides you on organizing chapters and ensuring each one answers the reader’s questions while sticking to the overarching goal. If you can’t summarize your goal in one sentence, that’s a major red flag.

Thomas: I highly recommend Made to Stick by Dan & Chip Heath (Affiliate Link). It delves into the science behind what makes ideas memorable. While it is primarily for nonfiction, it also offers insights for fiction writers. Made to Stick teaches you how to craft ideas that are easy to understand and memorable so that they stay with the reader.

As a high school speech and debate coach, I used the book to coach my students. As a result, half of our club made it to the national championship because no one else had used the book at that time. This gave us a significant edge over other clubs. However, once other clubs discovered the book, we lost that advantage.

Made to Stick is incredibly useful for preparing podcasts, sermons, and writing nonfiction books. It helps you understand how to create a good structure, as opposed to dumping all your ideas onto the page. Transforming those ideas into compelling narratives and points is the essence of writing.

Denise: I have clients who are pastors or speakers. During the developmental stage, they have to adjust from speaking to writing, from speaking on a platform to communicating through the keyboard. They learn to eliminate rabbit trails and focus their ideas.

When it Doubt, Cut it Out

Thomas: The arts of speaking and writing are very different. Like the art of sculpture, a developmental edit is about chiseling away unnecessary pieces. For example, some pastors might start with a sermon series. Within the transcript of every sermon series, a slim book waits to be uncovered, but the process requires rigorous chiseling and cutting.

The developmental edit is also important because there is no point in correcting typos in a paragraph that will be cut or shortened to a sentence. The process is challenging because it involves removing our cherished phrases, especially for public speakers. As a speaker who writes, I know that techniques like repetition work well in speeches but not on the printed page.

Instead of deleting these beloved phrases, I move them to a secondary document, which I call the “someday maybe” doc, ensuring they’re not lost forever. If I want to bring them back, I can.

I often realize later that a sentence wasn’t as good as I thought or that a paragraph wasn’t necessary. However, cutting it is less traumatic if you don’t delete it permanently.

The developmental stage is probably the most painful, especially for novelists. Hearing that your story doesn’t work or that the second act is dragging is difficult, and fixing it requires hard work. Similarly, if the theology in chapter three is incorrect and an editor points out a relevant scripture passage, realizing your mistake can be painful.

The developmental edit can be emotionally difficult.

Denise: Another tip is to keep the original file intact and create a new version for each round of edits, dating each new version. Cut as much as you can from this new version. This way, you always have the original file nearby, and you can revert to it if needed.

If in doubt, cut it out. You may love a particular story, but if it isn’t crucial to the character’s motivation or obstacle, you need to cut it. Similarly, if a story or illustration in a nonfiction book doesn’t contribute significantly to the reader’s understanding, it must go. Save these beloved passages in another file so you can revisit them if necessary, but leave them out of the final version.

Avoid the One-Book Idea Dump

Thomas: Another mistake many authors make with their first book is feeling like it has to include all of their ideas. They think it must feature every single character they’ve ever conceived and all possible conflicts: man against man, man against himself, man against society, and man against God, along with a tsunami. This results in an overwhelming and cluttered story.

I encourage authors to remember that they have an entire career ahead of them. I tell authors not to publish their first book. Your first book is for therapy, for working through personal issues or trauma. God may have called you to write it for personal growth but not for publication. Your first book can serve as fertilizer for a whole field of better and more focused books.

The key is to have a greater degree of focus. The only way to learn how to write a book is by writing one, but your first book is rarely a good book. It serves as a learning experience. Understand that you have plenty of time. Many people rush, especially as they get older, but the slowest path is often the path with all the shortcuts.

Denise: Even writers like John Grisham and Stephen King have admitted that their first novels were never published. We have to get over the idea that my first novel, my first nonfiction book, will be a bestseller.

Thomas: Setting your first manuscript aside is often the fastest way forward. Many authors have worked on that first novel or nonfiction book for ten years or more. If they had put it aside and started writing the second book, they’d have found writing to be much easier. Writing the second book is much easier than writing the first one because you’ve done it before. You know how it works.

How can I be a better copy editor for myself?

Thomas: I am terrible at finding my own typos. How can I get better?

Read Aloud

Denise: The easiest way is to read aloud. You will be amazed at how much you catch when you read something aloud. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, if you’re telling a story or using an illustration, reading aloud or even acting it out can help you notice anything you may have left out or repeated. Always, always read aloud.

Find and Replace Common Words

Another suggestion is to look at paragraphs first and see what sentences you can cut. This process can be painful, but it is necessary. Then, examine each sentence to see what can be cut. For example, if a sentence begins with “it” or “there,” you can likely remove some words.

Additionally, if there are many “to be” verbs, like am, is, are, was, and were, you can often replace them with more active verbs.

Thomas: Here’s a trick for evaluating those verbs. For my most recent book, I turned on track changes and did a find-and-replace for every “be” verb. I replaced every “is” with “is” and every “was” with “was” and so on all the way through the “be” verbs. It made no changes to my document except that track changes marked every occurrence of the verbs. That allowed me to go through my document and evaluate each instance, choosing to keep it or replace it with a stronger verb.

Denise: The same technique would work for your favorite overused words. Many authors don’t realize how often they use the word “thing” or other pet words. We listen to a John Grisham novel, and I can’t tell you how many times he used the word “however.” After a while, it grates on you.

Thomas: Angela Hunt calls them weasel words. You notice overused words more when listening to audiobooks. When you write, you may not notice how much you’ve used a particular word. But now that more readers are listening to audiobooks, it’s even more important to read your book aloud so you can catch those oft-repeated words.

Evaluate Descriptors

Denise: Additionally, when you’re fine-tuning your writing, pay attention to how many adjectives you use in a row. Many people think they need three adjectives to describe something, but as Mark Twain advised, adjectives weaken when they’re together and strengthen when they’re apart. Look for areas where you have too many describing words and space them out.

In the book On Writing, Stephen King mentions that you only need one or two standout characteristics for a character, and you can introduce more characteristics as the story progresses. This approach helps to avoid overwhelming descriptions and keeps your writing strong and effective.

Thomas: When you have to use a bunch of descriptors to modify a word, it indicates that you’re using the wrong word.

For instance, take the classic example, “He walked quickly.” The word “walked” is not precise enough, so it’s modified with “quickly,” which is less interesting than using a stronger verb like “ran” or “darted.” This issue is pervasive, and as Stephen King famously said, “The road to hell is paved with adverbs.” Adverbs are generally problematic, not because they are inherently bad but because they tend to be attracted to bad writing. It’s like the old belief that flies caused meat to rot. In reality, rotting meat attracts flies. Similarly, bad writing attracts adverbs. If you see multiple adverbs in a sentence, it’s a sign that the sentence might not be well-written.

Denise: I’m glad you brought up that adverbs aren’t evil in and of themselves because we do need adverbs. We need them to express time, proximity, and preferences. Adverbs aren’t bad when used in moderation.

Thomas: If your sentence is ten words long with an adverb and 15 words long without it, use the adverb.

Choose Clarity

In Stephen King’s book On Writing, he shares an example of editing the first chapter of one of his books. He points out some adverbs in his writing and explains that he chose to keep them because they improve the text. This illustrates that, like in physical laws, grammar laws also have a hierarchy. For example, gravity is a fundamental law, but there are forces, like lift, that can overcome it with enough energy and momentum, allowing birds and airplanes to fly without violating gravity.

The same concept applies to reading and editing. There are fundamental rules, but sometimes more powerful principles take precedence.

I believe the highest law of writing is clarity. The goal is to convey the idea in your head to the reader’s mind with minimal distortion or loss. Everything that distracts from clarity should be cut.

Denise: I agree it’s clarity. The second law for editors is to “Do no harm.” In other words, your author’s book is still your author’s book, so you have to be careful to preserve the author’s voice. However, for self-editing, clarity and conciseness are the pillars of strong writing.

Using a Style Guide

Thomas: The challenge of editing someone else’s work is that you don’t want their writing to sound like a sanitized robot’s work. Robotic text is boring. Editors and writers need to know the rules so that they know when to break them.

When I wrote my book, I created a style guide for my editors and outlined the five grammar rules I consistently and purposely broke throughout the book. I capitalized certain words that aren’t normally capitalized because I was treating them as if they were characters in a story. I didn’t want editors to change the capitalization.

Sometimes, you can break the rules, but you should note them in a style guide for your editor.

Denise: Before your editor begins, you should give them some guidelines with explanations. There may be some back and forth, but most editors will cooperate with you on elements of your writing that are intrinsic to your book and your voice.

Thomas: If you’re writing fantasy, please, for the love of your editor and consistency, give them a spelling guide for your place and character names. You may have changed the spelling of one of your character’s names halfway through the book without realizing it, so your editor needs the authoritative spelling guide. They can’t look up the correct spelling in a dictionary, so you must provide the dictionary.

How do you self-edit complicated sentences?

Thomas: I often notice and try to fix complicated sentences in my own writing. I remember auditing a journalism class where my professor discussed right-branching sentences. She said, “It is the heart of good journalism, and you can write an entire news article using nothing but right-branching sentences.” I had no idea what a right-branching sentence was because I didn’t do sentence diagramming in school, so I had no clue about left-branching or right-branching sentences.

A right-branching sentence follows a structure where the subject, verb, and object come first, followed by any modifiers. For example, “John hit the ball” is a right-branching sentence: “John” is the subject, “hit” is the verb, and “the ball” is the object. This structure is easy to read and understand, and people do not tire of it. Occasionally, you can use a left-branching sentence for suspense or intrigue, like “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”

However, if every sentence is structured that way, it quickly becomes irritating and harder to read.

I didn’t appreciate the importance of right-branching sentences until I started reading to my two-year-old daughter. She can stay engaged with a story for up to 30 minutes if it has right-branching sentences. But if there are more than two left-branching sentences in a row, she loses interest and slides off my lap. Many readers find left-branching sentences difficult to handle.

Focus on placing the subject, verb, and object first, then add additional information. This structure will make your writing clearer and more enjoyable to read.

Denise: Focus on who’s in charge of the action in that sentence. In grammar, we call that the subject. The power positions in your sentence are the first couple of words, the last couple of words, and then your verb. Keep the subject-verb-object order as often as possible. If you have a lot of explanation before you get to the subject of the sentence, you probably need to rewrite it. If you’re reading your sentence aloud and have to take a breath before you get to the end of the sentence, you need to rewrite it.

Thomas: I love that test. To take it a step further, read your book aloud while walking on your treadmill and underline any sentence that you can’t finish without taking a breath.

What about passive voice?

Passive voice and left-branching sentences often go together. Many people know that passive voice is discouraged, but that rule is overly simplistic. Sometimes, passive voice is useful for obscuring the truth. For example, in the famous sentence “Mistakes were made,” the passive voice hides who made the mistakes. This technique can create tension or set up a payoff later in the story, where you reveal the subject with an active sentence.

It’s not that you should never use passive voice, but you should use it intentionally, not because it’s the easiest way to structure a sentence.

Denise: We can be sure that when J.R.R. Tolkien used passive voice in the first sentence of The Hobbit, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit,” he did it on purpose. He wanted to create suspense regarding what we knew about the world of the hobbits.

Thomas: It’s a perfect use of passive voice because it subverts your expectations. You expect him to say, “In the hole, there was a fox or mouse or rabbit or snake.” Those animals normally live in a hole in the ground. But when he writes, “hobbit,” you know it’s a different kind of story, and it immediately raises the question, “What is a hobbit?” And now he’s got you.

Thomas: Part of the reason right-branching sentences are so important, and why they can be difficult to write, is that English is originally an Anglo-Saxon language. It was later influenced by French speakers, whose language was derived from Latin. Latin often uses left-branching structures, placing key information, like the word “hobbit,” at the end of the sentence for dramatic tension. This structure has been considered more sophisticated because of the historical view that Latin was more refined than the Anglo-Saxon language.

However, this notion stems from ancient biases that need to be discarded. English did not transform into French; we adopted some French words while maintaining our core structure. What resonates more with readers is the right-branching, Anglo-Saxon way of writing.

What else should writers watch for to improve clarity?

Denise: Avoid overloading a sentence with too much description or going on with five prepositional phrases to describe the size or location of something. Keep the information concise and focused on the action.

Here are some simple tips:

1. Check your paragraph length. While the average sentence should be about 14 words, with some longer and some shorter, you should vary your sentence length to maintain reader interest.
2. Check your paragraph length. People nowadays prefer shorter paragraphs due to the prevalence of online reading. Ensure each paragraph makes one clear point before moving on.
3. In nonfiction, avoid trying to do too much in one paragraph. When writing or teaching writing, it’s helpful to reduce each paragraph to one sentence. If you can do this, it shows focus; if not, it indicates a lack of clarity.
4. In fiction, ensure that every paragraph moves the action forward or develops character. If a paragraph doesn’t serve these purposes, consider saving it in a separate file for later use.

Thomas: Before Twitter became a cesspool of negativity and anger, it was a great tool for learning how to cut unnecessary words. The 140-character limit forced you to write punchy, focused sentences. It helped me realize how many unnecessary words I used in my writing.

Denise: Even though they’ve increased the character limit, you can still restrict yourself to 140 characters to practice cutting unnecessary words.

What tips do you have for helping me overcome making the same mistakes repeatedly?

Denise: If your editor is constantly correcting a common mistake, like not using a comma before “and,” try highlighting all your instances of “and” with track changes. If it’s a particular phrase, highlight that phrase. If you frequently start sentences with “it” or “there,” or if you overuse adverbs, use the find and replace feature to locate and address these issues. It may be tedious, but it’s necessary.

When working with my clients, I provide the relevant Chicago Manual of Style guidelines to explain why a comma is needed. This helps them recognize and correct the pattern throughout their book.

Another common mistake in nonfiction books is using long quotations from other works. Quotations rarely contribute significantly and should be eliminated. You don’t need to quote someone else for every point you make.

Thomas: Likewise, if you begin a chapter with a definition, you need to start over. You don’t see that in any of the great works of literature. Starting with a definition may be good for a legal brief, but it is not good for a chapter. If you’re tempted to quote a dictionary, you need to read Made to Stick and learn how to be persuasive.

What do you think of self-editing tools like Grammarly, ProWritingAid, or PerfectIt?

Denise: Each of those tools is helpful, but they don’t find certain nuances. The same is true for the spellchecker on Microsoft Word.

Thomas: Grammarly is helpful, but it’s a bad tool if you’re using it in place of a human editor. I like Grammarly because it explains the rules and why they exist. It’s good at educating, but it’s not a replacement for hiring a human editor.

Denise: An editor will pick up on nuances that a computer program can’t, such as sensitivity issues or diversity issues. An editor can say, “Is this what you meant here? I’m not sure what you wanted to say.”

Thomas: A human editor can also pick up on theological issues.

Denise: Yes. Now and then, I’ll run across a book that refers to Joseph as the youngest son of Jacob, and I think to myself, “I think Benjamin was the youngest son.” An editor will notice nuance and tone. As your first reader, they try to ensure that you’re aware of every meaning a sentence could have.

Thomas: Nuance is the heart and art. A good editor helps bring out the nuance and clarify your voice. They work with you to maintain the consistency of your voice and help you become a better writer.

AI tools help you follow the grammar rules, but they can’t help you know when to break the rule. An editor will see what you’re aiming for and possibly suggest breaking a rule. For example, your editor might say, “In general, you don’t want to use an adverb, but the sentence is 15 words long. We could get it down to eight with one adverb. I think this might be a time to use an adverb.”

Denise: Those AI tools will always mark your passive sentences, but sometimes, you want that passive sentence.

Are there special considerations or style guides for Christian writers and books?

Denise: If you capitalize pronouns for God or appellations such as Redeemer or Living Water, the AI tool will flag those uses, but your human editor will know what’s intended.

Thomas: If you’re writing a Christian Book, your publisher will have a style guide to show you how to handle capitalization. If you don’t have a style guide from your publisher, the rule of thumb is to use the style of the Bible translation you’re using.

Denise: Some popular Bible translations such as HCSB, NASB, and NKJV capitalize deity pronouns, but many publishers are moving away from that because it gets confusing. In The Christian Writer’s Manual of Style, Robert Hudson explains why you need to seriously consider not capitalizing pronouns for deity. He gives a lot of good information on what to capitalize. I recommend getting the most recent edition.

It’s not a good idea to quote from multiple versions of the Bible in your book, especially if you are writing to newer Christians or seekers. Pick a version, do your best to stick with it, and follow the version’s style guide.

Thomas: You’re forced to submit to the text when you stick with one translation. It keeps authors from cherry-picking from different versions.

When you choose the primary version to work from, I encourage you to read the translator’s notes at the beginning of the Bible. They often explain why and what they capitalize. This will help you understand your Bible translation and how the translation team approached the scriptures.

What services does your editing agency offer?

Denise: The Christian Editor Association has four divisions, and the one most relevant to your listeners is the Christian Editor Connection. It’s a free matchmaking service that connects authors, publishers, and agents with qualified professional editorial freelancers. The goal of the Christian Editor Association is to connect editors and authors.

Additionally, when you visit the Christian Editor Association, check out their detailed explanation of different types of editing. It provides a comprehensive list of what is covered in developmental editing, ghostwriting, copy editing, and proofreading. It is free and very helpful.

How are your editors vetted?

Denise: Editors take a test. If you are part of Christian Editor Connection, you take a test on various types of editing, whether nonfiction, fiction, proofreading, copy editing, or content editing.

Thomas: I often refer people to the Christian Editor Connection to find an editor because it’s a great matchmaking service. I recommend having at least three editors edit a sample of your work. This comparison is essential to determine the best fit for your book. Even though some may offer free samples, I believe in paying editors for their sample work. I think editors, writers, authors, and podcasters should all be compensated for their work.

Do you have any final tips or encouragement?

Denise: Joining a local writers group and attending a local writers conference are two of the best ways to improve your writing and learn self-editing techniques.

Sponsor

Christian Writers Institute

Related Links

• LightningEditingServices.com
• PenConEditors.com
• Steve Laube Post on Word Count
• Grammarly
• ProWritingAid
• Perfect It
• Christian Editor Connection
• ChristianEditorNetwork.com
• Types of Editing
• Word Counts Of The Most Popular Books In The World 

Craft Book Recommendations

• Writing Successful Self-Help and How-To Books (Affiliate Link)
• Made to Stick by Dan & Chip Heath (Affiliate Link)
• Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors by Kathy Ide (Affiliate Link)
• Editing Secrets of Best-Selling Authors (Affiliate Link)
• Writer to Writer: Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing (Affiliate Link)
• Tailor Your Fiction Manuscript in 30 Days (Affiliate Link)