You’ve typed the words The End. Alpha Readers, Beta Readers and Critique Partners have given you a thumbs-up. Friends and family members have given you two enthusiastic thumbs-up.
Congratulations! You’re ready to send your query to your top list of agents or small presses. Or hit publish if you’re planning to do this on your own.
Pause. Put that manuscript away for several months and work on something else (short story anyone). You need some distance from your work to see it later with fresh eyes.
Then it’s time for one final pass of self-edits. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. You want your work polished before it’s in front of a publishing professional’s eyes.
And yes, your future agent will most likely assist in editing. And yes, your future editor will definitely assist in editing. But your chances of crossing that threshold is more likely with a manuscript free from unnecessary, risky, or too many words muddying up your amazing story.
Three Phases of Editing
This self-editing guide will break down self-editing into three phases.
Developmental Editing
Developmental editing is often referred to as big picture. A query-ready manuscript lacks plot holes (narrative inconsistencies). Additionally, your manuscript completes character arcs, plots, and subplots. A query-ready manuscript starts in the right place—quickly orienting the reader to where they are in time and place. Events and character actions are plausible. The manuscript is free of continuity errors. Even if your book has series potential, it reads as a stand-alone with a satisfying ending.
Line Editing
Line editing is where the manuscript is revised on a line level—sentence by sentence and even word by word. A query-ready manuscript focuses more on showing than telling. Sentences are tight and word choice is intentional. Narration, exposition, and dialogue maximize pacing, either by speeding it up or slowing it down—all with intention.
Copy Editing
After developmental and line editing, it’s time to check for grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors. Manuscripts can be run through programs such as Microsoft Word or Grammarly. However, some copy editing will need to be done by the author.
So, grab your beverage of choice, roll up your sleeves, and let’s do this!
Part 1: Developmental Editing
Think of this as the editing phase where you make your readers believe your story could be true. Because we are going to make everything that happens in your story believable!
Opening Pages
I read many compelling queries that don’t deliver on the opening pages. And this is the most important part of your story. It’s where an agent or editor decides if they will keep reading.
I’m going to break this section down by risky versus less risky openings. The reason I use these terms, is authors take risks all the time that work!
However, especially if you are a debut author, I encourage you to think twice before taking risks.
Or, if you’re a querying author who’s received more crickets than interest, it might be time to consider a refresh on your opening pages.
Risky
Cliché Openings
Cliché openings are called cliché openings for a reason—they are overdone. We’ve seen them hundreds of times. And you can probably find many cliché openings in current New York Times Bestsellers. But I still caution their use. Since you have created a fictional world from nothing, extend that same creativity to your opening. It deserves it!
Here are some examples of cliché openings:
Main Character Musings
Starting your story with your main character thinking, describing, flashing back, narrating, etc. isn’t a compelling opener. This is however, a common start of a first draft. And that’s okay. Get it all out and keep writing. Then, come back to your beginning after you’ve typed The End and let’s do better!
Waking Up
It seems like a natural place to start a story with a character waking up in this new world you just created, but you can do better!
A Dream
If you start your novel with an exciting scene and the reader soon discovers it was only a dream, your reader is likely not to trust your narrator. Not a good way to start a story. You can do better!
A Character en Route
It also seems like a natural place to start a story with a character driving or walking to a destination where perhaps the inciting incident takes place. It’s risky because likely you’ll dive into Main Character Musings territory. You can do better!
The Weather
Yes weather is an important part of the setting. But show the weather through the character interacting with it as opposed to “It was a dark and dreary day” type cliché.
Looking in the Mirror
This often reads like a sneaky way to describe your character. They can look in a mirror at some point in your manuscript (real people look in mirrors all the time), I just caution it not be in your opening scene.
There are other cliché openings such as starting with a wedding, funeral, first day of school, etc.
Check Point
If you used a cliché opening, is there a different opening you can use that is just as unique as your story?
And if you are confident that your cliché opening is the right opening for your book, be sure that at least you tackle it in a creative way.
Info-Dumping Through Large Chunks of Narration or Backstory
I know it’s tempting to want to tell your reader everything, but don’t.
Authors are often nervous the reader won’t know what is happening unless they have the main character’s full backstory, understand every aspect of how a new government works, or see every detail of a new world. Often this type of writing has the opposite effect and is overwhelming to readers.
Instead, only tell (or preferably show) the reader in the beginning what is necessary for them to understand THIS scene and THIS scene only.
Readers are disoriented when they start your book. If you immediately pull them out of a scene with backstory or description this furthers that disorientation. Invest in character and plot first sprinkling in (rather than frosting) with as little backstory and chunks of narration as possible.
I often refer to this as predictable reader fatigue. If I open a manuscript and I see chunks of lengthy paragraphs back to back in the first few pages, I already assume I’m going to get reader fatigue and I’m hesitant to want to read it at all.
Check Point
Open up your manuscript and analyze what the first few pages visually show. If it’s back to back lengthy paragraphs, you likely have large chunks of narration or backstory.
Starting with the Main Character Alone
As I shared in the section on cliché openings, starting with a main character alone can risk Main Character Musings. Instead of really doing anything, all the main character is doing is thinking. That isn’t a scene. For a better understanding of what a scene is, check out The Anatomy of a Scene.
Check Point
Does my manuscript start with my main character alone and delve into Main Character Musings territory? What creative decisions can I make in revision to avoid it?
Starting with Too Many Characters
Just as you want to not start with the main character being alone, you also don’t want to start with too many characters. You can run the risk of the reader getting lost in the who’s who.
Especially be cautious of naming characters that aren’t going to be been on the page again in the manuscript. The reader will assume whomever they meet in the first few chapters are characters they should feel invested in. So give them that.
Check Point
How many characters does my manuscript open with? Are they all integral to the plot and contribute something? Are there characters who could be un-named, cut or combined?
Starting With a Fast-Paced Action Scene
If the reader opens your book and on page one a character suffers a life-altering car crash, the reader doesn’t know how to feel. They don’t know the character. The scene won’t adrenaline-punch them to the level you might hope because they have no connection to the characters to care.
Instead, give the reader an opportunity to get to know the main character(s) so they care about them before devastating things start happening to them.
Check Point
Does my manuscript open with a dead body or a car crash or some other high-impact action scene before my reader has had a chance to get to know my main character? Can I back the scene up a bit and give the reader an opportunity to care about the main character before this intense action scene?
Less Risky
Start the Opening Chapter as Close as You Can To the Inciting Incident
The inciting incident is what happens to your character that prevents them from ever going back to the status quo. It’s what sends them on the hero’s journey, or the call to action. But for the reader to care, they need to see what the main character’s status quo is.
Check Point
What is my inciting incident and where in my manuscript is it located? Am I starting my story slightly before it showing the reader the status quo in a compelling and interesting way?
A Clever First Line
While it’s not advised to stare at a blank page waiting for the perfect first line before you start your story, your first line is very important. That doesn’t mean it has to rival classic first lines. But it’s going to set the stage for your reader’s expectations. The one caution I have for your opening line, is to consider not starting with dialogue. Since the reader will not yet know your characters, they won’t have context as to how or why the dialogue is being spoken. But other than that, let your imagination run wild!
Check Point
Read your opening line. Is it unique enough that it could only be YOUR story? If not, consider revising until it is.
Orient the reader in time and place through the main character interacting with the setting.
Instead of explaining the time and setting through exposition, show us the time and place with the character interacting with the setting. And not every detail needs to be divulged in the first chapter. If you drop a subtle hint through the use of each of the senses that is enough to start building the setting you’ll flesh out over the next few hundred pages.
Check Point
Do I describe in detail the setting instead of showing it through the character interacting with it?
Introduce One or Two Side Characters
Anyone you name in Chapter 1 should be someone that is part of the main plot. The reason is because if you introduce characters in Chapter 1 you are telling the reader, these people are important. If characters need to be the in scene that aren’t part of the plot, then just give them a term that is not a name, “the cashier, the student, the server, the banker, etc.”
Check Point
Do I have characters in my opening pages that aren’t integral to the rest of the plot?
Power Imbalance
To make your Chapter 1 interesting (and the rest of your story), in each scene there should be a power imbalance. It doesn’t have to be huge like between the protagonist and antagonist, it could be small. An argument between a parent and child, an employer criticizing an employee. But it is important because it leads to the next less risky move.
Check Point
Do most of my scenes include an imbalance of power to some degree?
Tension
The aforementioned power imbalance leads directly to the tension and a good first chapter keeps ratcheting the tension up to the cliffhanger ending. Think of an escalating argument, a couple who think they are being followed and hear footsteps getting closer, etc.
Check Point
Is there tension in my manuscript in each chapter leading up to the climax?
Curiosity Seeds
Curiosity seeds are THE single most important thing in your first chapter. If you plant details that spark curiosity in your reader, then they will keep reading to uncover your clues and build the puzzle of your story.
Don’t tell the reader everything. But be specific in which details you chose to omit. It’s a fine balance between not trusting the reader to figure things out, and withholding too much that they have zero idea what is happening on the page. But trust me, if you find that balance, that agent, editor, or reader will HAVE to turn the page!
Cliffhanger Ending
Again, this doesn’t have to be a huge cliffhanger, those will come later. But there does need to be a small cliffhanger ending. The arrival of a mysterious letter, a mysterious guest, or a mysterious package, an unexpected phone call from someone from the past, etc.
Think of a way to end your first and really all of your chapters with cliffhangers that convince your reader to stay up and read just one more chapter over and over again!
Main Characters
You’ll likely have several main characters. One common issue with main characters, especially in dual POV is a similar sounding voice. An editor just yesterday told me unique voice is her number one criteria for continuing to read a manuscript.
To prevent this, give each character specific phrases they and only they use, specific words maybe they say differently, a different style of dress, different hairstyles, differently written interiority, different backstories, etc.
It’s also helpful to write a character sketch separately so while you are drafting you can refer to it.
The other thing to consider is that all main characters, even the bad ones, should have flaws and redeeming qualities. If you have a ruthless antagonist, does he, she or they still love their mom or pet? (Save the Cat anyone?) And your protagonist can’t be flawless either. If characters only have one personality trait they will feel flat and not fleshed out. That is something you do not want.
Check Point
Search online for character sketches and fill one out for all of your main characters. Not only is it fun, but their voice will then be clear to you and should make it onto the page.
Secondary Characters
I LOVE secondary characters. I think because authors don’t overthink them. They are super fun to write, but they do need purposeful creation. Let’s break it down.
Secondary characters don’t need as much fleshing out as main characters, but they should have a purpose. If a secondary character appears on the page multiple times what are they contributing? It has to be something, not just placeholder.
You can have placeholder characters that serve kind of like extras on a movie set, but secondary characters are not that. If you have secondary characters that aren’t contributing to the plot moving forward then work to give them a purpose or consider cutting them.
Check Point
Write down the names of your secondary characters and what they are contributing to the plot. If it’s nothing, then consider cutting them or giving them a role.
Plot
The plot of your story is your main character’s journey. It’s the series of choices they’ve made from chapter one through the last chapter that has caused them to change (character arc).
I consider plot to be tightly intertwined with character agency. What this means is your main character should be actively pursuing goals in each scene and either they achieve the goal or they don’t. Things can happen to your character that is outside of their agency, but if that’s the majority of your story, then it will lack plot. So be sure your character is pursuing goals throughout the manuscript.
Check Point
Analyze each scene of your manuscript. Write down your MC’s goal in each scene. If they don’t have one, either cut the scene or give them a goal.
Plausibility
Plausibility is when what happens in a novel is in alignment with the story’s laws of nature and human nature. It’s what helps readers suspend disbelief and feel immersed in this new world.
This is something I deep dive into when I’m editing a manuscript. I ask questions such as:
- Does the action/interiority/dialogue of the character make sense in regards to how they’ve been depicted?
- Does the action/dialogue/interiority of the character make sense in regards to the setting and time period they are in?
- When a character engages in interiority would they have time to think the thoughts they are thinking. (This is especially important in dialogue.)
Check Point
When revising, make sure every thing that happens to your characters, everything they say, everything they do, feels plausible in their world and to who they are.
Narrative Inconsistencies / Plot Holes
This is a tough one because often we are so close to our manuscript we don’t see it. Narrative inconsistencies are things such as a character’s personality doing a 180, a subplot not being resolved, etc.
Check Point
Scene-by-scene, write a 1-2 sentence summary about what happens (Basically an extended synopsis). Next, write down the main plot, and all sub plots. Read your extended synopsis and decide if all plots and sub plots are resolved. If not, time to get back to work!
Closing
Developmental editing is a very important part of the revision process. If done well, agents, editors, and readers, will be eager to flip those pages!
The secret to editing your work is simple: you need to become its reader instead of its writer.
-Zadie Smith
Amy Nielsen 
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