editing

Editing Tips: 7 Smart Ways to Tighten Your Writing

March 29, 2017 by Lisa Tener

“Tighten Your Writing.”

Thanks to the participants in my Bring Your Book to Life^® Program and writers who sent in samples for the writing workshop I’ll be facilitating at Harvard Medical School’s CME publishing course this week, we have lots of inspiration for today’s blog post.

Many times, writers aren’t quite sure where to start when editing a manuscript. “Tighten your writing” is one of my favorite starting points.

Pretty much every manuscript or writing sample I edited this week needed some form of tightening.

So many words. So little time to read them. Such is the lament of the modern reader. We want to be sensitive to our readers’ needs and time.

In addition, tight writing is more enjoyable, clearer, cleaner. Extra words make it boring.

Not only will this post teach you ways to tighten your writing, there’s a contest at the end where everyone wins a prize!

Have You Been Advised to Tighten Your Writing?

Blessed is the tight writer.

First drafts often prove messy, full of extraneous words and convoluted ways of saying things.

And that’s as it should be. First time around, you want to get it out on paper. Fine tuning and polishing should not come into play.

If you focus on editing and critique while writing a first draft, you can actually interfere with the flow. When it’s time to polish, however, tight writing can be one of your most crucial skills.

How do you develop this ability?

Same way you get to Carnegie Hall.

Practice. Practice. Practice.

Of course, you’ll need a few tried and true tips.

7 Smart Ways to Tighten Your Writing

Read Aloud for the first 2

Read aloud. ~~Is there anything that sounds~~ Does anything sound convoluted? Can you simplify it?
Read aloud again. When anything sounds wordy or long, highlight it. Then go back and see if there is a briefer way to say the same thing.

Next, Cut the Obvious

3. Here are some words and phrases that are usually extraneous and can easily be cut 90% of the time they show up in a first draft: started to, began to, so, very, really, that, Well (at the beginning of a sentence). Can you think of others?

4. In dialogue, dump the “he said; she said” when it’s obvious who’s talking. Boring. Repetitious. Unnecessary. Just give us the dialogue, unless it’s unclear or readers need a reminder ~~because it’s been a while~~. Better yet, give us an action by the speaker and you don’t have to write, “he said.” Plus, an action will break up the dialogue and paint more of a visual picture.

5. Practice on LinkedIn connection requests. Seriously? Yes. You have 300 characters to let a prospective connection know why you want to connect. If you know each other that’s easy. If you don’t know each other, and have a specific reason to connect, you may need to wordsmith to get it down to 300 characters.

6. Graduate to Twitter: Got it down to 300 characters? Now try 140. Be patient. It usually takes more time to distill your message than it did to write a first draft.

7. Ask, “Does the reader need to know this? Does it add value by making the writing come to life, filling in important details, or adding clarity? Or was is it unnecessary? Does it fit and flow?” In a first draft, we may put in details or actions that don’t really add much value. When editing, use a more critical eye. Read the page with and without a particular detail, sentence or paragraph in question. Which works best?

Hire an Editor

I highly recommend self-editing in the early stages of writing. At some point, however, you’ll want to hire an editor for professional editing. There are three main phases of editing: developmental editing, line editing and proofreading. Read this post to understand the different types of editing and how to find and hire an editor.

BONUS! Win a Prize (and Everyone Wins)

Have any tightening tips? Share yours below.

BONUS: Notice any places I can tighten up this post? Comment with your suggestion. The top 3 suggestions win a book. Others will win a beautiful bookmark painted by my lovely niece. Yes, everyone wins a prize today!

Reflections on Passion and Platform

September 3, 2013 by Lisa Tener

Lisa Tener book coach — Your Book Writing Coach

I just received this in my inbox from a client who wanted to set up a call about platform building:

“I’m so immersed in my book, at the moment. I spent the day editing, from your suggestions, the first four chapters. I’ve fallen in love with my book, once again. ”

Developing a platform as an author is important, especially if you want a traditional publisher to publish your book, or if your goal is to reach a large number of people.

However, many times people go about building their following or author platform by doing what everyone tells them–“You have to be on Twitter.” “Blog, for heaven’s sake.” “Speak.” “Get some good SEO for your website.” “Get a website.” The list goes on.

The truth is that it takes the same kind of passion this author found in her book to create an author platform from which to reach readers. Sure, learn about what’s out there, but rather than feel pressured to DO EVERYTHING, allow yourself to experiment and find out what you ENJOY.

book cover pat hastings

Do experiment. You may find that something which intimidated you or seemed artificial actually turns you on. This happened to Pat Hastings, author of Simply a Woman of Faith, who first told me, “I can’t market my book. I know nothing about marketing. I don’t think I’d like it.”

She found out that reaching people was something she loved–speaking, blogging, writing a newsletter, answering e-mails–she loved these activities. She even hosted her own radio show for a while and loved that too. And a presentation at a church about the topic of her book led to an invitation to visit and teach in Hawaii. Two years later, she lives in Hawaii full time. So, try new things out, see what you love, but always ask yourself, “Is this feeding me?”

If the author who e-mailed me today discovers the passion in certain methods of reaching potential readers that she rediscovered in her book, she’s much more likely to reach her goals when it comes to publishing her book, having an impact for large numbers of people and making an excellent living at the work she loves.

5 Lessons Learned after Publishing Online

February 6, 2013 by Lisa Tener

author stephanie hrehirchuk — Stephanie Hrehirchuk

I received a wonderful e-mail this morning from Bring Your Book to Life Program graduate, Stephanie Hrehirchuk and thought you might find a few good lessons in it.

Stephanie wrote: “Funny story: I was surfing around at links connected to my name. I saw a strange picture that linked me to a health magazine I know. I submitted 2 articles to the magazine early last fall…to put myself out there and exercise some courage in exposing myself and my writing.

“So…they published one of the pieces in January. As I read it, I wanted to delete it from their site! The passive voice screamed at me and I found myself editing it as I read.

“I am obviously becoming a far better writer because I know at the time I wrote that article I thought it was really good 🙂 Nice to know how I’ve improved since the start of your course.”

I see at least 5 lessons in this one:

1. Edit out passive verbs when you can. Well chosen verbs bring energy to your writing and hold far more power than adjectives and adverbs.

2. It can’t hurt to have an editor look at a piece you plan to post online. It often stays there forever.

3. Do a Google Alerts for your name so you know when something gets published by or about you.

4. A good writing class can help you become a better editor of your own work. Good writing is a skill that can be learned by almost anyone (it can be harder if you’re super-ADD and can’t stay focused within a sentence or paragraph, but otherwise most people can learn the skills relatively easily).

5. Forgive yourself any mistakes and focus on the positive: If you read Stephanie’s full blog post on the experience, you’ll find that she ends her post with “I’m pretty proud to have put myself out there. I think half the battle, if not more, is finding the courage to risk exposure and share your story with the world. My intent is always that somehow what I have to offer helps someone else. ” When you come back to why you’re writing, you keep the triumph of being published and any lesser issues are just lessons learned for next time.

Any lessons I missed? Any recent writing lessons you’d like to share?

Writing, Editing and Style: How Important is Tight Writing and Structure?

July 26, 2011 by Lisa Tener

I recently finished reading a moving memoir I happened upon through a newsletter subscriber. It’s written by an artist and I felt as if I were visiting with an old friend, vicariously enjoying her friendships and journey of personal growth.

The writing wasn’t crisp or particularly well organized, but I enjoyed the book just the same for the way the author’s openness, attitude and artist’s perspective shined through every word and the extreme experiences she survived and even thrived in.

writing for healing — If you're writing for your own personal healing, editing may not be a crucial step. Photo credit David Donohue: http://www.fotosbydavid.com/

It got me to thinking about writing quality and what standards we might have for ourselves as authors. Does a book need to be tight, perfect and well structured?

That depends on your goals. If you write to heal your own life or you write to inspire others with your story, maybe not.

If you are building a business or a brand as a speaker, entrepreneur or consultant, it better be as tight and polished as it can be–so you give an impression of excellence all around. Quality of writing and even the craft will reflect on your brand.

book writing vision — Reflect on your big picture vision for your book. If you're building your brand, building your expert credentials or writing for a large audience, editing becomes crucial. Photo credit David Donohue: http://www.fotosbydavid.com/

And, if you want to reach the greatest number of people as possible–certainly if you want to write a bestseller–make that additional investment of time and editing resources.

So many of our writing decisions depend on our goals. Whenever you are making decisions about your book, go back to your big vision and specific goals and the decision will become clearer.

What are your goals? Share here…or ask any editing questions as well. I’m happy to answer.

How to Choose a Literary Agent: Red Flags

January 18, 2010 by Lisa Tener

A couple of questions came up about literary agents today and I realized it would be a good topic to share with you. It’s easy to get taken advantage of it you don’t know what to look for or even aren’t quite clear on a literary agent’s role.

A student from my most recent Bring Your Book to Life Program is just putting the finishing touches on her self-help book, which has quickly gone from rough idea to a powerful manuscript. She e-mailed me today asking about a particular literary agency I had never heard of.

I looked them up in Preditors & Editors, a free online listing of editors, literary agents and others, which tells you whom to watch out for, and who has a solid reputation. This one was a big “strongly not recommended.” Use this resource if you have any question about an agency. It’s a great place to start. Also ask for references from an agent before you sign.

One of my clients signed up with a literary agent because her friend spoke highly of the agent. This agent promised all kinds of access. While I had some great agents in mind for this author, it seemed her new agent had super relationships with the publisher my client wanted most. So I gave it my blessing.

The agent recommended hiring a terrible ghostwriter

Later, we learned that these promises were all hot air. The agent first recommended a terrible ghostwriter. A ghostwriter was unnecessary for this book anyway, but the ghostwriter hatched up the book and even the agent agreed it was a mess. Then the agent sat on the book proposal for over a year doing virtually nothing. And this was for a highly marketable book and an author with a very loyal and impressive following.

Once you sign with a literary agent, you have a contract, and you can’t just leave unless you can prove they’ve violated the contract. This is a really important decision–so decide wisely and do your research before signing. And certainly have an entertainment lawyer look at your agent’s contract.

Having said that, I don’t want to scare you off of literary agents. A literary agent is one of the most important people in your career as an author. A good agent will find you a publisher who is the right fit for you and your book–one who shares your vision for the book. They’ll negotiate a great deal and look out for your interests. And they’ll often even help you plan your next books.

On a radio interview on Power Women Magazine today, the host, Deb Bailey, asked me how much you pay a literary agent up front. Nothing. If a literary agent asks for up front payment, run in the other direction. The Association of Authors’ Representatives, the national association that literary agents belong to, prohibits such up front fees. It’s considered a conflict of interest, because it could cause them to take on a book that doesn’t really have a good chance of getting published.

Literary agents get paid when you get paid by your publisher (through your advance and any royalties). A literary agent may suggest that your book proposal or book needs editing. They may even recommend an editor. But their own association prohibits them from collecting fees to make your proposal publisher-ready. You can hire a separate editor to do such work. They won’t have a conflict of interest.

Any more questions about literary agents? Ask away. Want to share your experience with literary agents? Please do.

How to Choose an Editor

January 26, 2009 by Lisa Tener

As a comment to an earlier blog post, Deb Scott asked what kind of editor to hire before self-publishing her book.

I recommended hiring a good copy editor, because you want to edit for style, organization and format, as well as grammar and punctuation. It seemed to me though, that I shouldn’t give you some advice about the kind of editor to hire without suggesting how you might hire the right editor, as opposed to the wrong one.

I’ve had people come to me who’ve spent thousands of dollars on editing and they know they need to start all over again. They threw their money away. It’s painful to hear about it and I don’t want it to happen to you. Follow these rules and you should do okay:

1. If you can, get a recommendation from someone who got their book traditionally published or knows good editor from bad.

2. Make sure the editor is familiar with your genre. You don’t want someone who only does how-to books to edit your memoir.

3. Find out what other books they’ve edited.

4. Ask the editor questions about their previous experience. What kinds of things have they done for recent clients (helped organize the material more clearly, helped the writer draw out the anecdotes better, helped the author show vs. tell, etc.)?

5. You may want to ask for a sample of their work.

If you feel you still need more information before making your decision, see if they’ll let you pay for the first chapter before committing to the entire manuscript.

As I think I mentioned in the earlier comment, don’t hire a POD or printing company to edit your book. They will usually look for the cheapest person around because they generally compete on price, not quality. The result is most often a book that doesn’t even seem edited at all.

You should ask about the person’s rates–is it by the page, the word or the hour? Can you get a quote on the project ahead of time? You may want to get several quotes. The ranges are quite varied–you usually get what you pay for, but don’t assume that a higher price always means higher quality–do your due diligence and get references.