Dear Readers,

Following is a tutorial discussing the importance of self editing. Once you've developed this ability, you are on your way to becoming a successful writer.

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Editing Skills That Will Make Your Manuscript Shine

SUE JOHNSON Writer's Digest Tutorials

Hi Everyone!

You can type the words "THE END," but are you really done with your manuscript? You know you have to polish and perfect it before you share it with editors and agents, but how? How do you know what to keep, what to chuck, and what's going to bore, or charm, the reader? You can learn to edit your own work, and here's where to start.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to diagnosis the pitfalls of your own plot and pacing, the importance of the economy of language, and why more specific detail in your work can actually bore your reader to tears. You'll discover the importance of letting your book "marinate" after you type "THE END," and how to distinguish between the little voice inside that's self-doubt, and the little voice inside that's telling you where to revise. Through sample passages, both rough draft and revised, you'll see these editing skills at work.

Kate McKean works closely with her clients on editing their manuscripts before submission, so there's almost no editing pitfall she hasn't seen. Learn the secrets she's discovered after 10 years in the industry (and editing her own unpublished books herself, too!)

In this 53-minute tutorial video, you'll learn:

• How to listen to and trust your gut when revising
• Why few readers care what color your character's hair is
• How you should not say in 12 words what you can say in 5
• The importance of distancing yourself from your work to gain perspective
• How to Kill Your Darlings and save your manuscript
• Why you can't just wait for an editor or agent to do all this work for you
• When your manuscript is really, really done (at least for now)

Preview: Editing Skills That Will Make Your Manuscript Shine >