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You are here: Home / Archives for Self-Editing

5 Types of Editing for Authors

By Belinda Pollard 5 Comments

5 different coloured tulips with the text: 5 Types of Editing for Authors

Developmental editing, content editing, copyediting, proofreading… what do they all mean? And where does self-editing fit into the mix?

Filed Under: Self-Editing, Self-Publishing, Writing & Editing

What to do when you’ve finished the First Draft

By Belinda Pollard 56 Comments

Man standing on high mountain in triumph, with text: What to do when you've finished the first draft

When you type The End on the first draft of your book, celebrate! But also… you are only just beginning.

Filed Under: Beta Readers, Self-Editing, Writing & Editing Tagged With: beta reader, editing a book, first draft, self editing, writing a book

Should Writers Do Their Own Editing?

By Belinda Pollard 14 Comments

Man trying to cut own hair with text: Should writers do their own editing?

Should writers do their own editing? Yes, and no. There are times when we should edit our own work, and times when we need the benefit of someone else’s eyes.

Filed Under: Self-Editing, Self-Publishing, Writing & Editing

The Unexpected Story: When memoir becomes a different book

By Belinda Pollard 3 Comments

In 20+ years as an editor, I’ve seen this phenomenon again and again: a memoir or personal story has turned into a different book by the time the writer is finished. If your memoir is “turning on you”, don’t feel you must cling to your original purpose. You might be surprised where that feisty little book takes you.

Filed Under: Memoir & Personal Story, Self-Editing, Writing & Editing

Proofreading our own work: Overcoming ‘autocorrect’

By Belinda Pollard 15 Comments

I’m always saying how hard it is to proofread our own writing. But there are those situations where we need to do it. How can we increase our accuracy?

In WQ, the magazine of the Queensland Writers Centre, I read an intriguing article about the brain science behind this thorny problem… and some possible solutions!

I tracked down Alison Quigley, author of the article, and she has generously agreed to share it here on my blog…

Filed Under: Self-Editing, Writing & Editing

Editing your book? Print it out!

By Belinda Pollard 33 Comments

Yes, we all live in an electronic world these days, untethered by concrete reality, communicating like mad things on various iThingies. Paper is so 2002. But if you want to do a good job of editing your book, you need to print it out. Yes, I’m serious. Print it on actual paper, seize a red […]

Filed Under: Self-Editing, Writing & Editing

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