by Joyce Good Henderson

Created on: January 11, 2009

Tips for self-editing a manuscript:

1. Search and substitute active verbs for passive verbs. Passive verbs include: is, am, are, was, were, be and all the verbs ending in "-ing." For example, "the house was being redecorated," becomes "she redecorated the house."

2. Match pronouns and nouns. "Ellen took Deborah's cat and she didn't know what to do." Who is "she?" Ellen, Deborah or the cat? A pronoun refers back to the last noun, so in this example "she" refers to the cat. And while you're at it, be sure the numbers match also. "She picked up their ticket." Perhaps a group of people only had one ticket, but more likely they each had their own tickets. "Everyone should watch their own child." We don't all have the same child, so please observe your own child and I'll watch mine.

3. Watch out for tense. If you start in one tense (past, present, future), stay there. "Alice stirred the soup and called her Johnny to set the table for dinner. Johnny walks into the kitchen."

4. Check the mechanics. Are paragraphs indented? Words spelled correctly? The first letter of sentences capitalized? Manuscript formatted properly?

5. Learn the difference between "who" and "that," and "which" and "that." Use "which" if the sentence could stand alone without the "which" clause. And, always use commas with "which." You may use either "who" or "that" when referring to a person, "that" when referring to an object and if it is an animal whose name you know, you may use, "who." For example, "The dog that stole the show belongs to George." "The dog, which is George's, is the one who stole the show." "George is the sort of person whom everyone wants to meet, but it is his dog that has personality." Or, "George is the sort of person that everyone wants to meet, but it is his dog Buddy who has even more personality."

6. Don't misplace those modifiers. "We are traveling to the city on the boat." Is the city on the boat or are you traveling on the boat to the city?

7. Feeling versus thinking. If the verb is followed by a "that" it is a "think statement." "Feel" needs an emotion word after it. "I feel sick," not "I feel that I'm going to be sick." "I think that I'm going to be sick."

8. Engage in some wishful thinking and change the verbs. "I wish I were twenty pounds lighter." "What if" also qualifies as a wish. "What if I were the president?" "If I were the king of the forest"

9. Does a dog lie down or lay down? Many writers have tripped over lying, or is it laying dogs? An easy way to remember the difference is to define the words. "Lie" means to recline. "Lay" means "to be set down." Then the only question that remains is, did the dog lie down on his own or did you put him there?

10. Watch out for nouns masquerading as verbs. Please write a book, don't author it.

Learn more about this author, Joyce Good Henderson.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.