the craft. the self edit.
Recently on the PTW Podcast, I talked about working with an editor for your debut novel, detailing the experience of receiving that first edit letter which leads you to wonder what the hell you were thinking when you embarked on writing a book. But the most important thing to come from that experience, after I picked my pride up from the floor, was becoming a better editor myself.
I would have counted it a fail if I wasn’t also getting better in that process. Yes, first and foremost as a writer, but also as my own self-editor. We’ve talked about the instant gratification of coming from a blogging background. While blogging helped create opportunities many of us couldn’t have dreamed of, it also made us short-sighted at times when it came to taking our time with the writing process.
The current project that I am on submission for, I started in 2021. That was three years of making certain it felt good enough, ready enough to stand any chance in this current publishing market which is not the same as it was in 2020, especially not for Black and POC writers. There are multiple iterations of the story, and I know that there are still changes I will want to make before I have to turn in a final copy anywhere. (If you’re the praying type, pray I sell it please and thanks.)
Here at Permission to Write, I work with a myriad of writers at different stages in their careers. But I think wherever you are, learning how to self-edit is a major tool and skill to develop for yourself. You’ll always need that subjective opinion though. It’s not like you’re ever going to become so great that an editor is going to look at your project and say, “you know what? I wouldn’t change anything.” I mean if that happens for you, you let me know because I will want to worship the ground you walk on.
Maybe it’s the very nature of how my brain works, but I know for certain the first thing I write isn’t going to be a winner. My brain moves way too fast to actually write well the first time around. But there are others that spend much more time crafting the perfect sentences as they go. Either way, a few of the things I swear by in my self edits include:
Reading aloud - I feel like writers skip this task a lot because it is daunting, but the amount of things you catch when you read aloud would save you a lot of unnecessary edits from other people. And word has a read aloud feature so you can even just listen.
Printing - For me, there is something about reading on paper vs. reading on a screen that changes something in my brain. I need both to feel like I’ve given the manuscript the real brain power it deserves.
Giving It Time - Oh time, can be the hardest thing, but so much clicks when you walk away from your work for a certain amount of time and come back to it. Could be months. Could be a year, but all of a sudden things start flowing where you may have been stuck. Passages you thought were Nobel Prize worthy all of a sudden aren’t so amazing. Books take time, and this is part of the reason.
Listen, I just saw someone on Twitter (I’m not calling it X) complaining about the lack of resources and time editors at publishing houses have these days. And believe me, as someone who already has a book out in the world, you don’t want to fall short on making sure it’s work that you can stand by and that’s your responsibility first and foremost. I think taking the real time yourself as an editor of your own work, will only make the process of working with an editor much better.
Tomorrow, as a part of Black Writers Weekend, I’ll be sharing more tips, tricks and tools, as well as looking at some live samples of edits in The Self-Edit workshop. 6:30pm ET. If you’re around, join me.
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