I'll be querying soon! YAY! Before I send out my manuscript, I'm going through it one more time to search for a couple of things. Here's the short list:
Overused words:
so, was, just, even, ever, then, really, had, and THAT.
Also, check out Rachel's post on crutch words to find the overused words unique to your ms!
Tighten by cutting unnecessary words:
Shrug my shoulders = I shrug
His heart beat in his chest = His heart beat
She yelled out = She yelled
They could see the river = They saw the river
Revise clunky Sentences:
Too many actions-
Moving toward the door, she smiled, waved, and walked down the stairs, eating a donut. = After opening the door, she smiled and waved. She finished eating the donut on the way down the stairs.
Redundant descriptions-
Clearly, they were too busy to hear the shouts of screaming children echoing from the walls within the building. = No one noticed the children's screams coming from inside the building.
Pronoun confusion-
She nailed her to the wall but she fought back and her hair pins fell into her hands. = Abby nailed Clair to the wall. Clair fought the restraint, loosening her hair pins. Abby caught the pins as they fell.
Attach detached body parts:
I threw my hands around her. = I hugged her.
Her eyes roamed his body. = She looked him up and down.
She rolled her head. = She stretched her neck side to side.
His feet swiped the carpet. = He walked slowly.
Their arms flew in the air. = They raised their arms in unison.
Basically, anything were the extremities are not attached to the body. ;)
Deepen POV:
She felt hands on her arm = Hands touched her arm
He could feel the heat of her breath on his face = Her breath heated his face
*Watch for filtering words- felt, heard, saw, thought, wondered, knew.
Punctuation/spelling/grammar:
Im not a super, genius when it come to finding all the errors' but some are obvious." Its always good to has you're sentences at least end with a period?
*If you come across something you're not sure about check out Grammar girl. :)
What about you? Do you have quick checklist for editing?
Fantastic list, Diane! This is a somewhat tedious step, but its sooooo important not to skip. ;) Can't wait until you start querying! Whoo Hooo!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cheryl! It feels like editing is never done! :) I'm excited to start querying also!
DeleteGreat post, Diane. I heart checklists! :) I'm very excited for the next step in your writing journey.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE lists too! It helps organize my brain! Thank you! :)
DeleteYES YES YES lists! My mind is always chasing a zillion tangents so anytime I can reference a list: Win! Great post Diane. And, filtering words are my nemesis. I know this, and yet I still write them. Thank goodness for crit partners. ;-)
ReplyDeleteSo glad it's helpful! I can't function without lists or crit partners!!!
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