Learn how to submit work to a creative writing contest!
You’ve finished your manuscript. As the relief crashes in you, you give a huge sigh, allowing your mind to relax from your writing labors. And you know what? You deserve it! Take the rest of the day off, reward yourself with a treat, go out with a friend or buy a drink. Then come back to your workstation and brace yourself because the fun has only just begun.
Welcome to editing.
A lot of work goes into making a manuscript ready for publishing, and writing the first draft is only the first step. Now, you need to eliminate all errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, phrasing, and more. You’ll want to critically examine your manuscript’s structure and format. Is the tone consistent? Does your narrative have coherence? Is it readable? These are questions you need to answer.
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Without a doubt, your chances of being published are significantly higher if you spend at least as much time editing your work as writing. The stages of manuscript editing include proofreading, copy editing, line editing, and developmental editing. Yes, you read that correctly. Four stages. They are designed to do different things:
- Proofreading: giving proof of errors – the final step of reviewing a manuscript before submission.
- Copy editing: sentence level correction – a copy editor will check the accuracy and consistency in grammar, spelling, tone, punctuation, terminology, and syntax.
- Line editing: examining every sentence and polishing them.
- Developmental editing: restructure the flow of the manuscript by considering structure, flow, narrative, formatting etc.
If this sounds overwhelming, now might be a great time to consider a consultation with a content strategist. I can assist you with the editing process and break it down into manageable chunks. DM me to get things started, and find out more about manuscript editing and ebook formatting services. Let’s take that book from written to published!