Questions tagged [editing]
Editing is the act of improving a piece of writing. Questions with this tag should focus on specific editing techniques or ways to improve editing skills. Critiques or proofreading questions are off-topic here.
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What is Writing/Editing Backwards Really?
I'm curious to know because I was thinking that when people say this, I'm thinking they start editing the last chapter of their work to the first, and see if it all makes sense in the end. When I ...
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How to properly format a post update on a company blog?
I wrote a blog post about a certain feature(in testing) of our online product.
We finished the testing and changed a couple of things and added some improvements to this feature.
So, I was ...
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Self-check redundant words
I find myself using redundant words. (Ask a question: To ask is to pose a question, so question is redundant.) Apart from experience, is there any method to self-check?
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How to edit story structure
I’ve written a plot for a long story. But it’s not easy for anybody to review because my characters’ dialogue and goals are all over the place, it’s often usually mixed up and I struggle to structure ...
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Typography for a book?
I know this must vary based on preference. I haven't gone to school for writing but regardless have started writing a book. I have a few chapters done, and need to start format and editing it.
Should ...
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Do editors rewrite?
I write fiction, I guess you could say experimental fiction, but I just feel I am more of a stylist. Every story of mine that's been accepted was taken as is. Now, for the first time, I am dealing ...
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Clauses: comma splices and run-on sentences
in case any of y'all were wondering, yes I did change my username, and no I don't have my Christmas tree up.
I was wondering how to avoid the comma splices in my writing. I find that a lot of the ...
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How to avoid repetitive sentences? (Describing actions, he/she)
I was just wondering if anybody had some tips on how to avoid repetitively describing characters' actions in the same way? Here is an example which I'm struggling to reform, mostly because I keep ...
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Are significant edits made to books first published in the USA, for the UK market?
An answer on sci-fi, "What passages were removed or changed from the North American version of His Dark Materials?" lists the changes that were made to The Amber Spyglass for its initial publication ...
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How to ask a question and define what I mean?
I am in the middle of the painful process of buying a car. I am trying to do much of my legwork online before going into a dealership. One of the things I hate the most about purchasing a car is ...
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How much per page? Is this a ripoff?
I have a friend who has almost completed a book. She belongs to a local writer's group, and has told me a person in this group that bills themselves as an editor says they can edit her work for $300 ...
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When my story has a powerful phrase but that loses its power when I read it again in the next day, should I keep it or remove it?
Sometimes I have a great idea of sentence (usually for a dialogue) and it is just so nice, beautiful, epic, badass, powerful, or whatever other positive impression. However, sometimes I read it again ...
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APA Citation for a undergrad-level book review
I'm writing a book review for sociology on the book Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier.
This book is the ONLY source for my whole paper. It is the only citation that I am using and the only outside source ...
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Is it possible to read your own words too much? (and begin to hate them as a result)
I'm working through my chapter 1 for about the 5th time. As a generality, I love my story and characters, all of them, even the psychotic ones.
But, it is becoming more and more of a slog to make ...
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Simultaneous Bilingual Writing
I have recently undertaken a personal project to translate my WIP novel into Japanese in parallel with writing it. I am managing both in LaTeX and editing them in vim, but the topic itself is too ...
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Rewriting a scifi story to fit with actual science, should I do it as I go?
Rewriting a scifi story to fit with actual science, should I do it as I go, or just write first and make the needed changes while editing?
My world exists in my mind, clear and palpable. but I am ...
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What to do if my writer's brain functions in English but my target readers are those of my motherland?
As a reader I have spent far more hours, well... years reading in English than my natural Portuguese mother language.
Now that I am writing, in Portuguese, I find myself fishing for words I know ...
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I am planning to write stories - But how do I publish and sell them?
I'm planning to write stories. However I am not an expert in writing or phrasing english sentences.
Is there any website which can fix the writing and publish the stories in my name and we can sell ...
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I wrote a book, but changed my mind on the ending
Does anyone with experience have suggestions on how best to go back, edit, and rearrange scenes and details? You know, without me dying in the process? The whole book needs to be restructured.
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MS Word -- free or low cost options? Comments/Track changes?
My Office365 subscription expired recently, and I don't have the money now to renew.
But I may have a writing/editing gig coming up which involves MS Office. I already have LibreOffice, but I don't ...
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Is it okay to have my family edit my book?
Okay, I don't really have any friends who write. (or in general) And I wanted to know if it was too biased for my family to edit my writing.
My mom likes to read my stuff and I let her fix grammar ...
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I wrote a novel, now what?
I'm new here, so, please, bear with me.
I had a look at previous answers to similar questions, but my case is (possibly) a bit different.
I am not a professional writer, so I wrote this (long) novel ...
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Story content and audience
I have an idea for a novel however I don't know if it is possible as the story line is very controversial and being young I write in a very immature style. This would make the novel very conflicting.
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Are lit consultancies just out for money or can I trust them?
I am at the stage where I have edited my novel to the best of my ability. I want a manuscript assessment and have sent off samples of my writing to a few lit consultancies, and have received very kind ...
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Is writing in fragments bad practice?
Occasionally, it feels easier to write individual scenes of a prose and later connect them somehow.
Does this method have any significant benefit and/or throwback over the regular "perpetual" way?
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Do I have any control over the grammar of my novel?
English grammar is generally pretty black and white, but there are a few areas under debate. For instance, should a series of three have one or two commas? For example:
The coach was black, dusty, ...
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How to use a quote with frequent changes
I am editing a manuscript in which the author frequently wants to change words within a fairly long quote (two sentences or more), and believes that if he does so he no longer needs to put the rest of ...
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Is there a hack to bring out your "true" voice?
I've just approved my typeset manuscript and re-reading the book, I'm aware that it sounds very far away from my internal voice. Whilst it has all of the elements in practice, the colour and fluency ...
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How significant a role have editors played on books published in the past?
I am an editor having difficulties dealing with the representative of an author's literary estate about an unpublished manuscript by a deceased author. We have a polite (and friendly) disagreement ...
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How to: More Words [closed]
I want to be able to have at least 2,000-3,000 words per chapter.
But when I finish my chapter outline, it comes to around 1,000 words. I then go back and it is about 1,300 after edits. I want to ...
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Correcting a handwritten manuscript
I used to write on a word processing software, so all the work of rewriting, correcting, editing was easy. Now I'm more and more inclined to handwrite my manuscripts, but all this work of cross out ...
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Copying Certain Information From A Official Website
Hey Guys I was researching on a assignment I have to submit to my university. When i was about to copy certain information i went under the "Terms of Use" seeing if i could copy the said information ...
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Royalty rate for edition of estate-held text
I am the literary executor of my father's estate. A relative has started work on producing a (probably very) limited non-professional edition of my father's 1938-45 war diary. I need to strike a ...
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Is it a bad idea to write and edit chapter by chapter?
I am beginning to write original novels after writing fanfictions and posting them online for about six years. My usual process is: write chapter, edit chapter, post chapter, repeat. This means that ...
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How to interpret editor feedback?
I've just received the written feedback from an editor in a large publishing house. On the whole it's very critical, with the occassional "could be good" thrown in at the end of sections with a list ...
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How much does a manuscript change through publication?
I am currently writing a novel, and I am wondering how much a complete manuscript changes if accepted into a publishing house. I have heard from fellow writers that this may vary from publisher to ...
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How can I write easier with a learning disability?
I've been writing stories since Elementary School but was diagnosed with a reading comprehension disability in High School. I was labeled as a visual learner.
Currently I'm writing articles for ...
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Where to break paragraphs in dialogue?
I'm going through an editing something I wrote and am stuck on where to break paragraphs containing dialogue. I know I need to break when a new character speaks, but I'm not sure where to start a new ...
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How do I fix a text wall when I already have one?
When I write answers to questions on the stack exchange network my end result is often quite lengthy. While length itself isn't a problem for me, sometimes my answers end up like this. This happens ...
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Where would I find a Critique Partner or Group?
Programmers often collaborate over code by using pastebin. They drop sections of code for others to read and assist in improving or removing errors. Does anyone know if a similar app exists for ...
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How do I gain sufficient emotional distance from my work to edit it?
This question was asked by a member of my critique group at the beginning of the month and I've been stewing over it for a while now. I still don't have any better ideas, so I'm turning to you. How ...
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Resurrecting a story: Rewrite or Edit?
I started a book about 2 years ago, got about halfway through, and then got sidetracked. I know this is a typically bad habit of novelists... Fortunately, the book idea that distracted me made it to ...
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How many rewrites should a writer expect for a novel?
"By the time I am nearing the end of a story, the first part will have been reread and altered and corrected at least one hundred and fifty times. I am suspicious of both facility and speed. Good ...
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How much humour can you afford to have before losing a serious atmosphere?
Background
When I first tried writing fantasy - a long long time ago - I wrote a book that was meant to be really serious and intense. However, I wrote it in a way where the characters joked around, ...
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Has standard manuscript format changed since 2011?
This question was asked in 2011: Do editors still expect Courier font in book submissions for publication? A couple people said they found a monospace font helpful to have space to insert editing ...
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Editing a memoir
A relative (who is no longer living) wrote a number of autobiographical pieces which I would like to publish in a book. They're very good but they need a fair amount of editing. I would like to ...
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How do western publishers react to drafts that are obviously ripoffs of an existing work? [closed]
For example, lets say you were to submit a draft to a publisher that is an obvious ripoff of an existing, popular series (like LOTR). Popular view is that an editor or whoever is in charge of reading ...
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How do I know when my work is ready for critique?
I run a critiquing group once a month and I've had several of my members say they aren't sure how to tell when their work is ready for critique. I'll be covering this in a workshop tomorrow night, but ...
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Ways to avoid repetition of "filler" words in writing?
I wasn't entirely sure how to phrase this in the question box, so it may seem like a duplicate. But, I did look at these questions (What are the tricks to avoid repetition in writing?, How to avoid ...
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Academic books published by university presses: How much expertise do the editors have?
I'm talking about books on specific academic topic, e.g. history of the Aztecs before colonialism, which are published by university presses like the Oxford University Press. How expert are the ...
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