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6 Editing Tips Before You Submit Your Manuscript

We all know that the moment before finally publishing your manuscript can be an incredibly nerve wracking time. You’re feeling completely torn between feelings of satisfaction and apprehension to find whether it’s been accepted or not by a publisher.

That’s why it’s important to do as much as you can to help quell these nerves, so that you’re not stressing over the submission process.

One of the things that you can do in order to make sure that you’re feeling confident after submission, is to make sure that your manuscript is edited properly before publishing.

Editing isn’t as simple as it may appear, and involves more than just skimming through your work and checking for grammatical errors, although this is a part of it.

If you want to make sure that your manuscript has the best chance of success, then we’d like to present you with this handy guide that shows you how to edit your work to perfection.

In order to get started, simply keep reading below, as we take a closer look.

Step Away From Your Work

First and foremost, we’d urge you to step away from your manuscript for a while after you’ve finished writing it. The temptation when we’ve completed our draft, is to go back and immediately check it for grammatical and syntax errors, so that it’s all wrapped up.

This however, is the wrong attitude, and it can be problematic because your mind is feeling frazzled from all the work you’ve already done. This can cause you to miss out errors that would have been obvious to you if you’d gone into it with a clear head.

If you want an example of this from a master of fiction, take Stephen King. After Stephen King has completed one of his manuscripts, he will then place this beloved work in a drawer for up to weeks, in order to distance himself from the work.

Edit Out Loud

The next tip that we’d give you whilst editing your manuscript is to do so out loud. If you’re not sure what we mean by this, we’re talking about reading your manuscript verbally.

This might feel a little bit strange at first, because we’re so used to reading things internally in our minds, but it can actually help to point out any clunky sentences, or blatant errors.

It will also help you to gauge whether or not your manuscript flows properly. You might want to change pieces of syntax here and there, in order to make sure that it reads as well as possible.

One tip that we’d give to you is to record yourself reading the manuscript itself. This way, you can actually listen in real time, and make any necessary corrections whilst you’re playing the audio.

Grab a piece of paper and a pen, and jot down areas that you think might need to be changed.

Give It To A Friend

We know that many people reading this article might shy away from this step, and won’t want to hand over their manuscript to friends and family, fearing what they might think.

But as long as you trust the person in question, we would urge you to take this step, as it will be highly beneficial for you.

If you actually want some real feedback, then giving it to another person is one of the best things you can do. Writing is an incredibly solitary escapade, and we can get stuck in our own heads, not knowing if we can trust our own judgment about things or not.

If you don’t have anybody whom you trust enough to share your manuscript with, then we’d recommend that you try joining a writers group.

These groups sit down on a regular basis, and discuss each other’s work purposefully. It’s also an opportunity to meet some like minded people, and receive the opinions of people who are dedicated to the writing process just like you are.

Hire A Professional

6 Editing Tips Before You Submit Your Manuscript (1)

If you’re able to afford it, we would recommend hiring a professional editor to take a look through your work before submitting it.

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do any of the editing yourself however, and we’d recommend that you eliminate all of the minor errors before submitting it to a professional.

Many publishing companies will fail to take your work seriously if it’s absolutely riddled with minor mistakes. Of course, everyone has a few typing errors here and there, but if there are multiple sections which have been ignored, this may pose a problem.

Hiring a professional editor will help to give you the confidence that a professional has eliminated any errors in your work, and have finessed all of the finer details.

Take A Closer Look At The Plot

Before you submit your manuscript, and you’ve taken a break away from your work, we’d recommend that you take a closer look at your plot, to make sure that it’s completely foolproof.

For us, everything might appear logical and perfectly sound, but there may still be missed errors in the storyline.

Go back and fix any plot holes, and in addition, make sure that the character details are perfect too. There’s nothing worse in a story than a character that’s two dimensional, and doesn’t have the depth to be believable.

Format It Properly

The next tip that we’d give you in terms of your manuscript is to make sure that it’s formatted properly.

Depending on where you intend to publish your work, you’ll notice that each different company has conflicting guidelines. You’ll need to make sure that it’s formatted properly, and adheres to their standards.

You will typically find these instructions on the company’s website, and it will tell you where and when to send it. Make sure that you read all of the finer details such as whether or not they want a certain font or type size used in the work, or if it needs to be double spaced.

We can’t stress enough how important this step is, and if you fail to adhere to the guidelines, you could see your work rejected before anyone even reads it.

Final Thoughts

To sum up, if you want to make sure that your work is edited to perfection, we’d recommend undertaking the steps outlined above.

Taking the time to format your work properly, hand it over to a friend to check, and hiring a professional are all stepping stones on your way to success.

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