During the first twelve days of December I'll be posting twelve ways to self-edit.
Today's Tip: Get A Good Example
Stuck for how to go about even beginning to edit? Visit your local library. Check out a bunch of books like yours. Check out a bunch that aren't like yours. What do they do that you like? Can you make your book do that? Give it a try! What do those books do that you don't like? Does your book do that too? Get rid of that! Maybe you find a nifty structure like reverse chronological order that can help make your who-dun-it more suspenseful. Maybe you notice an interesting voice a character has and you want to add a character like that to your story. Maybe you notice that most prologues are awful and you decide to nix yours too. Maybe you hate many-years-later epilogues and vow never to write one. See what others are doing and see what you can do with it!
