Self-Editing Checklist

ANNABEL SMITH

Check out the article, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: A Quick-Start Checklist from the AutoCrit Blog for this quick and simple start to self-editing.

1. Clean things up:
  • Clear out the clutter.
  • Weed out “to be” verbs and other passive constructs.
  • Eliminate clichés
2. Check Narrative Flow
  • Show, don’t tell.
  • Find and eliminate redundancies.
  • Vary sentence lengths.
  • Pace yourself.
3.  Dialogue
  • Get rid of excess dialogue tags.
  • Stick to “said” and “asked.”
  • Keep adverbs out of dialogue tags.
4. Plot

Evaluate your character development, conflict, action, and theme.

I’ve listed the main points on the checklist, but to get the details, you’ll need to read the article. If you’re ready to begin self-editing, need help or a little direction you can test AutoCrit for free 

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I’d love to hear your comments. Talk to me. Tell me your story. I’m all ears and look for me on Facebook at SheilaMGood,  PinterestBloglovinTwitter@sheilamgood, Contently, and Instagram. You can follow my reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

 

7 thoughts on “Self-Editing Checklist

  1. Thanks for sharing this. I might add that years ago I found a wonderful book, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself Into Print, by Renni Browne and Dave King. I believe there’s now a second edition out. I highly recommend this book. Again, thanks for sharing this info! 🙂
    –Michael

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