Editing Secrets
BY LAURA BACKES
Once you've plotted out your book, developed the
characters and written the last word of text, the real work begins. As
busy editors are bombarded with hundreds or even thousands of
submissions a year, it's more important than ever that authors apply
their own editing skills to their manuscripts before putting them in the
mail. Checking your basic grammar and spelling are of course important,
but authors need to go beyond surface editing if their work has a chance
of catching an editor's eye.
• Trim, tighten, hack away. First, second
and even third drafts of manuscripts are almost always laden with extra
words and scenes. Take a break from your book and then read it through
with a fresh eye. Write down your theme in one sentence (what the book
is about, such as working through shyness on the first day of school or
showing how Thomas Edison's childhood experiences influenced his adult
life). The plot (or progression of facts and events in nonfiction) is
your vehicle for conveying the theme to the reader. Ask yourself if each
character and scene advance the plot toward communicating this theme.
And decide at the beginning that you will give up your precious words
and finely-crafted scenes for the betterment of the book. Pithy dialogue
may be fun to read, but if it pushes your story off track, it's just a
literary dead end. Take the publishers' suggested word limits seriously:
no, you don't really need 3000 words to tell your picture book story
about Freddy the Frog's adventures in the Big Pond.
• The elements of speech. Well-crafted
dialogue can be a writer's most important tool. Dialogue is not just
there to break up the paragraphs or show that your characters know how
to talk; ideally, it adds to character development, moves the plot along
and replaces sections of narrative. Each character should sound like
himself, with speech patterns and phrasing that are unique. This is
especially true with talking animal books. I see many of these
manuscripts where, if I took away the words that identify the speakers,
each character would sound exactly the same. Don't have dialogue repeat
the narrative and vice versa; "Did you hear that? Someone's at the
door!" does not have to be preceded by "They heard a sound at the door".
• Show don't tell. How many times have you
heard this? It's still true. Comb through your manuscript for sentences
that tell the reader how a character felt (Sara was sad) and replace
with sensory descriptions (Hot tears sprang to Sara's eyes and rolled
down her cheeks.) Avoid telling the reader what to think about the story
(Jason foolishly decided to trust Mike one more time.) Instead, present
your character's actions and decisions to the reader, and let the reader
draw his or her own conclusions (incidentally, this is how you "teach"
without preaching).
• Wipe out passive writing. Search for
verbs preceded by "would" (would go, would sleep, would eat) replace
with the past tense (went, slept, ate). Also look for actions that seem
to happen out of thin air. "The door was opened" is passive, because the
sentence lacks a "doer". Remember, the reader needs to visualize what's
happening in the story. "The wind blew the door open" is better, because
the action can be attributed to something, and it puts the most
important element (strong wind) at the beginning of the sentence. Simply
rearranging the words ("The door blew open from the wind") puts emphasis
on a door that won't stay closed, making that the subject of the
sentence.
• Be precise. One of the best ways to make
your writing come alive for the reader is to use exact nouns, verbs,
adjectives and adverbs. One well-chosen word is always better than three
vague ones. Adjectives like big, little, cold, hot, beautiful, scary and
silly; adverbs such as quickly, slowly, loudly, and softly; and general
verbs like walk, went, stayed and ate don't draw a vivid picture for
your reader. Of course, sometimes these words are appropriate, but try
as a rule choosing words that describe specifically what you want to
communicate. Words that sound and look interesting are also a plus.
Tremendous, tiny, frigid, scorching, plodded, sauntered and gulped are
more fun to read, and they each lend an emotional overtone to the
sentence (if your character gulps his food, you don't have to tell the
reader he's in a hurry).
And finally, make sure there's a logical cause and
effect relationship between the scenes of your book. Each event should
build upon the ones that came before. The plot should spring
intrinsically from your characters; nonfiction should unfold because of
the nature of your subject and your slant on the material. It's when
everything comes seamlessly together that you have a winning book. Make
it look easy, but don't skimp on all the hard work it takes to get
there.
Laura Backes is the publisher of Children's Book Insider, the Newsletter for Children's Writers. For
more information about writing children's books, including free
articles, market tips, insider secrets and much more, go to
her website.
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