Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself into Print

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself into Print

By Renni Browne and Dave King, Illustrated by George Booth

Published by Quill: Harper Collins in 1993.

In 2004, I was in an amazing critique group called the Mudskippers (For a 5 minute video about nature’s mudskippers click here.) As a group we Mudskippers read together and discussed a little book that has proven to be an invaluable resource for me year after year. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself  into Print.

At only 200 pocket-sized pages it seems slight. But every line of every page is packed with useful information.

I give this book 5 out of 5 highlighters.                  

Browne and King’s twelve chapters cover with clarity and precision key areas that every fiction writer needs to hone.

•       Showing AND Telling
•       Characterization and Exposition
•       Point of View
•       Dialogue (two chapters)
•       Interior Monologue
•       Easy Beats (for dialogue)
•       Using white space for dialogue and pacing
•       Unintentional repetition
•       Proportion (finding the right balance of details in description and action)
•       Sophistication (avoiding constructions that slow the story down such as –ing and      as clauses and phrases.)
•       Voice (definition and tips on encouraging developing your distinctive fiction voice.)

Incredible techniques for writing and critiquing fill every chapter.

Reading and re-reading Self-Editing made me aware of subtle characteristics that make writing great instead of good, and how to both identify and use those characteristics to elevate my writing to a higher level – a publishable level.

Probably the most useful thing I absorbed from Browne and King’s Self-Editing is something I use every time I write, revise, re-write or critique.

R.U.E.

RESIST THE URGE TO EXPLAIN.

Assume that your reader is intelligent and can figure some things out for her/himself.

•       Resist the urge to add too much description or detail.
•       Resist the urge to use adjectives and adverbs instead of strong nouns and verbs.
•       Resist the urge to give your reader more than a smathering of backstory.
•       Resist the urge to use a lot of interior monologue – thoughts.
•       Resist the urge to give your reader information dumps.
•       Resist the urge to write a paragraph when a sentence will do.
•       Resist the urge to TELL me about your character or plot when you can SHOW me.

I have a long way to go as a writer. But Self-Editing has brought me a long way from my first attempts. I believe that putting into practice the fundamentals in Self-Editing for Fiction Writers has transformed much of my writing from ordinary to something special.

And that something special is what agents, editors and readers are looking for.