Mastering Editing with 25 Tips for Neurodiverse Writers

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Music.
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Hello, and welcome to Writing While Distracted, the writing podcast that helps
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you transform your scattered thoughts into literary brilliance.
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I'm Brenda Murphy, your NeuroSpicy writing coach. For writers of all kinds,
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but particularly those dealing with distraction and mental health issues,
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this podcast will offer positive advice for staying focused amidst the chaos of your mind,
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along with writing tips to help you find your story's beginning and use your
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strengths to get to the end of your novel.
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Here, creativity thrives in the midst of chaos.
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Stay tuned as we talk about grammar and editing and all that jazz coming up next on the podcast.
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Hello and welcome back to the podcast. I'm excited about today's topic because
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we're going to dive into something that's really difficult for most neurodiverse writers.
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If you have ADD, dyslexia, autism, or any other neurodivergence,
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you know that editing can sometimes feel like wrangling a tornado.
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Your brain's moving a mile a minute, and focusing on tiny details seems like a monumental task.
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It can feel like you're sticking hot pins in your eyes.
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But here's the good news. You can master editing, even if it feels overwhelming
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in the moment. And today, I'm going to cover 25 ways that you can use to help
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you during edits to make your manuscript shine.
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I'm going to throw in examples and tips to help you avoid common mistakes that
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neurodiverse writers, such as myself, tend to run into.
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So let's begin with one of my favorite tricks, where figuring out where your
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story needs punctuation, or if you've got the punctuation wrong. reading it out loud.
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When we read out loud, our brains often autocorrect our mistakes.
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So if we've been reading the same words or staring at the same words for hours,
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or if you're unsure if you've composed your dialogue in a way that you want
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it to read, read it out loud.
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Read it to yourself. Read it to the dog. It doesn't matter who you read it to,
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but read it out loud so you can hear how your words sound.
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And that just flips over a different part of your brain.
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And oftentimes you'll hear if a sentence is awkward or if it's punctuated weirdly.
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You can find a readback program. A lot of the more modern ebook apps will read your work back to you.
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I like that, but I don't like it as much as reading it myself.
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There's something about me having to say what I've written that really clarifies
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a lot of mistakes and points me in the direction of how it should be written.
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What a problem is for a lot of us with attention issues is that staying focused
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on our reading can be tough, and also we will stick words in where they don't belong.
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So this can be, this can go either way. I find it helpful, but if you find yourself
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sticking words in, later you go back and like, oh, I thought I put that word
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in there, but you didn't, that can cause a problem too.
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As far as your attention goes, break it up. Don't attempt to read the entire
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book to yourself in one go.
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And you don't have to read all of it to yourself.
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I save this for areas that feel sticky to me.
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Like I read through them and I go, something's just not right here. But what is it?
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And if I don't know, I read it aloud and hope that it will come to me and that
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I'll be able to understand what it is that I'm trying to do.
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When you're reading through, the second thing that you should look for is sentence
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fragments and run on sentences.
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When we're in the creative zone, oftentimes we'll write a sentence that might
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make sense to us because we have the rest of what's going on in our heads,
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and those are fragments.
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Also, run on sentences. We're so excited about the story we're telling.
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We just keep going and going and going.
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Long sentences are difficult for most people to read.
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Now, there are times that a long sentence is appropriate.
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But long sentences can really drag your book, can drag your pacing,
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can drag everything down.
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So save longer sentences for those times you want to give your reader a break.
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As far as fragments go, my thoughts on this is there are times and places where
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fragments totally belong, particularly in dialogue.
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No one speaks in complete sentences all of the time. okay?
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So pay attention to that. Are your characters speaking like robots because they're
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not speaking in fragments?
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How many times during a day do you speak a fragment to someone?
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You do it all the time and you don't even know it, but that's what makes dialogue
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feel natural and purposeful. Fragments. We say fragments all the time.
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Jeet, and for a translation for you all that are not from the Midwest,
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that means did you eat or have you eaten yet?
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How many times do we just use one word to convey volumes?
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So sentence fragments have their place in your dialogues.
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As far as the narrative, oftentimes sentence fragments can be used to punctuate a paragraph.
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And I mean that they're dramatic, but save them for those moments.
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For the most part, if you're writing narrative, stick to complete sentences.
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That will go a long way with endearing yourself to an editor.
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When we hyper-focus, we often write those super long sentences or we write in
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fragments because our brain is firing so quickly we don't have time to sort everything out.
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But when you have gone back, when you need to fix that is when you go through your rough draft.
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Fill in those words, fix those fragments. But if you get to this point in your
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editing and you've got fragments, really look at what's going on around it and
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figure out why did I stick that fragment in there? Take it out,
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fix it, make it a sentence.
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Take those long sentences and break them up into readable bite-sized pieces for your story.
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Number three, watch for your tense shifts. Sticking to one tense is game-changing,
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and it's a way to keep your reader grounded.
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If you start a story or start a sentence in past tense, don't suddenly switch
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to present tense mid-sentence or paragraph unless it's intentional.
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And for the most part, it will not be intentional.
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If you have dyslexia and ADHD or ADD, your brain might hop between those scenes
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without noticing tense changes.
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You can use a highlighter to mark when those tense changes occur when you're proofreading.
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And that's a way to keep your story and your sentences correct in the way that
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your editor is going to want them to be.
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It also keeps you from looking like you don't know what you're doing.
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One of the marks of beginning writers or novice writers is having your tenses be all over the place.
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Stick with one tense and carry it through. It may sound, this is where knowing grammar is helpful.
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It may sound like you are saying something correctly because it's the way you
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would say a sentence, but it's not necessarily the way you would write a sentence.
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There are some great grammar books out there that are written for mere mortals,
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and I will link to one of my favorites by Cherie Greer in the comment section.
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If you are struggling, if you wish you knew a little bit more about grammar,
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or if you just want a desk reference that you can hang out by,
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your desk and pick up to look, Cherie's book is the one to go to.
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I love it. I recommend it to everybody and I will leave that link in the description.
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And that will also help you understand tenses if you're wondering what I'm talking about right now.
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Now here's one that is very tricky for those of us writing stories that fall
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under the LGBTQI umbrella and that is pronoun clarity.
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If you are using pronouns for your work that fall outside of he she or they.
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Be consistent in using neo-pronouns and be aware that if you are writing about
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couples or people that use the same pronoun, i.e.
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If you are writing a story where both characters use she and her,
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when you go to write sentences and write paragraphs,
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you need to make sure that your reader is clear about who she or her is.
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You're going to need to take some time there. If you have a story that involves
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multiple people that use the same pronouns, no matter what those pronouns are,
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you need to pay attention to who is speaking and who you're talking about.
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And this is where highlighters come in handy too.
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I always assign my characters a highlighter
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color when I am outlining my work at
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the beginning and when I do my scene cards it's as much
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of an outline as I can go with but what I do is
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I run for those scenes that are those person's scenes
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I run a highlighter across the top of the card so that I know that in that scene
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it's from that person's point of view and it also helps me know what their pronouns
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are because you can add that over in a little corner section of your card when
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you do your character work what pronouns are you using for that character.
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Using highlighters to identify the speaker and the pronouns in the sentence
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will show you with glaring clarity if you've messed up, if you've written a
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sentence that sounds like either character could have said it,
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or it pertains to either character.
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Sorting those things out will do a long way to avoid confusion in your readers.
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So work through your manuscript with highlighters while you're reading through it.
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If it sounds like a lot of work, it is. I am not going to lie or sugarcoat it.
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Editing a manuscript is work. It takes time.
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But the time you take editing your manuscript is well worth it.
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This is what you want people to read. You want them to understand your work.
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You don't want them to be confused.
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You want them to hear your story. You don't want them to toss it into the rejection
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pile or simply delete it if you've self-published because your grammar,
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the story was confusing because you didn't spend the time editing it to the
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best of your ability and making sure that your reader understands what you're
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saying. The whole point of grammar is,
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And editing is to clarify your story. That's it. Not torture you,
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although it can feel like it at times.
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It's not about that. It's about telling your story in a way that's readable
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that people can understand.
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Here is the next one, number five. Limit your adverbs. Those are those L-Y words.
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If you can, and I would suggest that whenever you find yourself writing something like walked quickly,
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that you pause and go, is there a noun or verb that's better than this word that I'm about to use?
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So how about rushed or walked quickly or darted?
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If you're looking for, if you wrote something such as more healthy, how about healthier?
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You will find yourself using LY words often.
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L-Y words make for a weak manuscript. There are times L-Y words are appropriate.
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I'm not saying go through and delete every L-Y word,
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but I am saying go through and delete as many as you possibly can because choosing
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stronger words makes for a stronger story and more readable. So that's what you want.
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Neurodivergent folks, oftentimes we're typing fast and so in our fast rough
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drafts, we'll fall back on those LY words because they're super easy to use.
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When you go back through your manuscript, when you're editing,
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get rid of them. Get rid of every single one you can.
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So that's my word on the LY words.
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Number six, be consistent in your characters' names and traits.
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Oftentimes, I don't even want to go
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into how many times I have forgotten eye color
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or hair color or any of
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the other little details and then I have to go back and read previous
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books or refer back to my manuscript or what
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I really love that when I'm consistent about doing it and I'm not always consistent
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about doing it is when I have written a description in my character worksheets
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or scribbled them someplace in a notebook which is more often what happens I've
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scribbled down personal characteristics on a sheet somewhere because I'm writing
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fast and I'm writing on the fly.
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This goes back to consistency and,
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our creative brains, we will just stick anything in there in the moment to get
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moving on with telling our story.
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So this is a time you can be consistent, go back, check for their character
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names, how you've spelled their names.
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If you're writing fantasy, oftentimes the spellings that we use are unique and
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different because we've created a fantasy language.
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Go back and make sure those are consistent and those are the words you want
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to use. And the name is the word and correct.
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Oftentimes, I have been guilty of flipping names because I've gotten distracted
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while I was cutting and pasting.
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And then I have a dialogue that is taking place completely oppositely from the
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way that I want it to be because I've cut and pasted the wrong names.
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So take your time. Go back through. Again, highlighters are your friends.
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Use them to color code who is speaking where in this manuscript.
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You can do it. Now, if you're one of those people that edits on screen,
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you can highlight in different colors.
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Use your word processing. Most word processing software offers a way to highlight
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in different colors, and you can go back and do it that way if you want to.
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Number seven, check for homophones. Those are those words that sound exactly alike.
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And here I'm meaning your, as in you own it, versus your, which is you are,
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and their, meaning theirs, they own it, and their meaning a place. And there are tons more.
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This is when you want to, to, to, to, and to, and to, are three different words
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with three different meanings.
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So make sure you are using the right place in the right time.
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In the right meaning. This is your time to go through that. Don't be goofy.
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Don't look like me. Everyone misses something, but this is your opportunity
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to use the search function.
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I have gone back and used the search function to search the word to,
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to search the word t-o-o, to search the word t-h-e-i-r, to search the word t-h-e-r-e,
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to make sure that I have used the right word in the right place. And there are tons more.
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Use that search function. It is a lifesaver when you were doing this kind of editing.
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Number eight, use active voice. Make sure that you're using active voice as often as you can.
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It makes your writing all punchy and engaging.
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For example, if you say the dog chased the ball, it's much clearer than the
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ball was chased by the dog.
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And that's kind of an outlandish example. I don't think most people would write that.
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Now, where this can come into play where you might have a disagreement with
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your editor, and I have had one or two.
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Oftentimes I will switch to a passive voice for a sentence or two to slow the pace of a scene.
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If I have just been hammering at my people and have punchy, punchy,
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punchy, punchy things going on,
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but if I want them to take a break and I want you to see how the character has
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paused, I will switch to a more passive presentation of what they're doing.
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Using the word watched or watched as in a sentence or phrase to show them stepping
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back and observing versus being engaged in what's going on with the action.
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And that's something you can work out with your editor. Sometimes I give in
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and change it. And sometimes I say, no, this is the way I want it.
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And that's what it is. It's a give and take with your editor. I trust my editors.
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I've worked with most of them for a long time. And I trust them to have the
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best interest of the story at heart.
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Whether or not they step on my feelings that's a
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whole different thing and we talked about that in rejection dysphoria
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i've actually never had an editor step on my feelings but
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i have had very patient editors explain to me why it needs to be the way that
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it is because of how the english language works and so i defer to their knowledge
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and expertise they have edited much more than i ever have and or ever will and
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i depend upon them so if you can find a good editor that you work with,
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or if you're blessed enough that your editing,
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your publishing house has editors that you love working with, that's worth so much.
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It will make your writing life so much better to have an editor that you can trust.
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If you hire an editor, if you're indie published and you hire an editor or you
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work with someone, you exchange editing, trusting them goes a long way towards making your work sing.
00:18:11.585 --> 00:18:15.345
And that's what you want. You want it to be amazing and you want it to have
00:18:15.345 --> 00:18:17.885
good editing. Editing makes the story.
00:18:18.085 --> 00:18:22.025
It really does. It may seem inconsequential. It may seem like a detail,
00:18:22.045 --> 00:18:24.085
but editing makes the story.
00:18:24.505 --> 00:18:29.205
Number nine, vary your sentence lengths. Short sentences, long sentences.
00:18:29.405 --> 00:18:31.725
If you're writing a fight scene, don't write long sentences.
00:18:32.025 --> 00:18:35.325
Short, choppy, punchy sentences for the action that's going on.
00:18:35.445 --> 00:18:39.625
If the person's having a reflective time or you want to just cool the reader
00:18:39.625 --> 00:18:43.825
down a little bit, longer sentences that are filled with more details,
00:18:43.825 --> 00:18:44.945
this is where you do that.
00:18:45.105 --> 00:18:48.205
So just pay attention to make sure that not everything is long,
00:18:48.385 --> 00:18:51.225
not everything is short, and not everything is medium.
00:18:51.465 --> 00:18:57.425
You want your words to be, you want it to be a song, you want it to sing,
00:18:57.545 --> 00:19:00.565
you want it to have rhythm, you want it to have a pace, and you achieve rhythm,
00:19:00.565 --> 00:19:05.405
pace, and the song-like nature of a book by varying sentence lengths.
00:19:06.165 --> 00:19:12.685
The pitfall for some of us with neurodivergence is it's super easy to fall into a pattern.
00:19:12.965 --> 00:19:16.585
Look at your sentence structure. Look at what you've done. This is the time to do that.
00:19:17.205 --> 00:19:21.865
Make sure that when you're going through and checking your formatting that you
00:19:21.865 --> 00:19:24.825
have indented your paragraphs consistently.
00:19:25.505 --> 00:19:29.285
Find an indention length and stick with it.
00:19:29.405 --> 00:19:33.265
Go through the entire manuscript and make sure that you have indented everything
00:19:33.265 --> 00:19:35.245
correctly. Beginning of paragraphs.
00:19:35.745 --> 00:19:38.885
Remember that when someone starts talking, each time that they talk,
00:19:39.025 --> 00:19:42.685
it's considered a new paragraph and so you indent that line of dialogue.
00:19:43.837 --> 00:19:47.657
Again, make sure that you've used for number 11, use consistent spelling.
00:19:48.077 --> 00:19:53.437
If you have some words are spelled differently, and oftentimes this has to do
00:19:53.437 --> 00:19:58.997
with whether you are writing for an audience outside of U.S.
00:19:59.117 --> 00:20:03.397
English, or if it's British English, those are not the same things.
00:20:03.637 --> 00:20:07.277
Check with your publishing house about how they want certain words spelled,
00:20:07.477 --> 00:20:13.817
whether or not there's a U in favorite or color, whether or not it's G-R-A-Y or G-E-Y.
00:20:14.117 --> 00:20:18.337
It doesn't matter which you pick. If you're unsure which your house is going
00:20:18.337 --> 00:20:21.257
to want you to use, if you're trying to submit to a publishing house,
00:20:21.257 --> 00:20:26.177
or if you're unsure, pick one and stay consistent throughout your manuscript.
00:20:26.717 --> 00:20:32.277
Again, hyperfocus messes with us sometimes because we tend to rush through some
00:20:32.277 --> 00:20:38.097
sections and skip over others, and we don't recognize or remember or see inconsistent spellings.
00:20:38.277 --> 00:20:42.017
Do your best. Do a spell check here. Do a find and replace here.
00:20:42.457 --> 00:20:45.817
Search out the words and make sure you've spelled them consistently.
00:20:46.737 --> 00:20:50.337
Number 12, check your dialogue tags. When you're writing dialogue,
00:20:50.337 --> 00:20:56.357
make sure that you've punctuated it correctly, that you have put the quotation marks where they go.
00:20:56.517 --> 00:21:01.617
If you're using he said, she said, or an action, make sure that you've punctuated that correctly.
00:21:01.797 --> 00:21:04.577
There are great examples that you can find online if you're
00:21:04.577 --> 00:21:11.297
not able to know what that is just google it my friends and you will find a
00:21:11.297 --> 00:21:15.577
way they will show you visually because it's hard for me to explain it talking
00:21:15.577 --> 00:21:19.577
to you how things should be punctuated but go through and make sure that you've
00:21:19.577 --> 00:21:22.897
punctuated your dialogue consistently and correctly.
00:21:23.825 --> 00:21:31.365
Number 13, trim any excess words. So unnecessary words are things like in order to,
00:21:31.865 --> 00:21:39.085
the words so, just, and that, or only, or simply, a lot of those words can just
00:21:39.085 --> 00:21:42.625
be cut from the page and you will not even notice that they've gone.
00:21:42.845 --> 00:21:48.325
I personally do a global search and delete for that because I use it so often
00:21:48.325 --> 00:21:54.045
when I'm thinking as I'm writing that it's easier for me to delete them than
00:21:54.045 --> 00:21:57.585
to read through and just delete the ones that don't belong.
00:21:58.045 --> 00:22:02.185
When I've deleted all of the words that in a manuscript, when I go back through
00:22:02.185 --> 00:22:06.905
reading it, it's easy for me to see where the word that actually is necessary and does belong.
00:22:07.045 --> 00:22:10.485
So that's just my pro tip. I do the same thing with the word so,
00:22:10.745 --> 00:22:14.985
S-O, and I do the same thing for the word just, because I oftentimes find myself
00:22:14.985 --> 00:22:16.625
sticking those and where they don't belong.
00:22:16.625 --> 00:22:22.805
So if you have pet words that you reuse repeatedly, global search and delete can be your best friend.
00:22:23.305 --> 00:22:28.325
Number 14, look for word echoes. You ever notice when you use the same word
00:22:28.325 --> 00:22:31.945
three times in a paragraph, that's called a word echo, and it can be distracting
00:22:31.945 --> 00:22:33.045
as hell for your readers.
00:22:33.745 --> 00:22:39.005
Our brains like patterns, and it's very common for us to have a favorite word that we use.
00:22:39.465 --> 00:22:44.825
So look at your manuscript for words that you've used over and over and over
00:22:44.825 --> 00:22:46.885
again, very close together.
00:22:47.105 --> 00:22:51.705
And this is when a thesaurus comes in handy for finding words that mean the
00:22:51.705 --> 00:22:53.545
same thing but are different.
00:22:54.005 --> 00:23:00.065
And it may seem like a struggle, but if you've used the word fire three times
00:23:00.065 --> 00:23:03.725
in a paragraph, that's really going to stick out.
00:23:04.045 --> 00:23:07.805
Find other words for fire, flames, whatever.
00:23:08.085 --> 00:23:12.565
It doesn't matter. Find other words to use and space out that use of that word.
00:23:13.490 --> 00:23:16.650
15. Cut out any unnecessary info dumps.
00:23:16.690 --> 00:23:20.710
You should have done this before when you were doing the last step,
00:23:20.850 --> 00:23:24.710
which was when you went through with a big, big pair of scissors and cut out
00:23:24.710 --> 00:23:25.930
anything that didn't belong.
00:23:26.090 --> 00:23:29.030
If you haven't, now is the time to do it.
00:23:29.310 --> 00:23:33.010
If you run into a huge info dump that you didn't cut before,
00:23:33.190 --> 00:23:37.490
get rid of it or break it up and sprinkle all that lovely goodness throughout
00:23:37.490 --> 00:23:38.810
the rest of your manuscript.
00:23:38.910 --> 00:23:43.770
There is no reason to have all of the things that you've researched in the manuscript,
00:23:43.770 --> 00:23:45.930
all in one place, all at one time.
00:23:46.110 --> 00:23:51.010
Particularly if it's a character's backstory, dribbling out bits and pieces
00:23:51.010 --> 00:23:55.090
that actually have an effect on the character's arc is much more compelling
00:23:55.090 --> 00:23:59.630
and will draw your readers into the story as they pick up clues along the way
00:23:59.630 --> 00:24:02.390
about why your character's behaving in a certain way.
00:24:02.670 --> 00:24:06.410
Dribble those things out. Don't dump it all at one time. If you sit down and
00:24:06.410 --> 00:24:09.690
eat a gallon of ice cream goodness, it doesn't feel as good,
00:24:09.690 --> 00:24:15.330
trust me, as if you eat it slowly over the course of a few days.
00:24:15.650 --> 00:24:19.510
So that's what you want to do. You want to sprinkle that lovely goodness throughout
00:24:19.510 --> 00:24:23.150
your manuscript so that you're not overwhelming your reader all at once with
00:24:23.150 --> 00:24:25.330
all of the information because they're not going to retain it.
00:24:25.870 --> 00:24:28.210
16. Break up your long paragraphs.
00:24:28.930 --> 00:24:33.570
It's easy to get carried away and think that things need to be one huge paragraph.
00:24:33.810 --> 00:24:38.010
Again, paragraphs should be about three to five sentences long.
00:24:38.170 --> 00:24:42.390
Sometimes it can be 10 or 15 sentences long. If you get longer than 15 sentences,
00:24:42.390 --> 00:24:47.230
that is going to be a lot for a lot of people. So look for natural breaks and
00:24:47.230 --> 00:24:48.290
break up your paragraphs.
00:24:49.221 --> 00:24:54.421
Number 17, stay with one point of view and be consistent.
00:24:54.981 --> 00:25:00.421
Don't do the infamous head hopping. If you are confused about point of view
00:25:00.421 --> 00:25:05.901
at ball and head hopping and what that is, please go read Sandra Gers' book
00:25:05.901 --> 00:25:08.281
on point of view. I'm going to link that in the comments.
00:25:08.441 --> 00:25:13.601
It is a very wonderful and clear, simple explanation of what point of view is
00:25:13.601 --> 00:25:18.201
and how to use it and how to avoid jumping around with points of view.
00:25:18.701 --> 00:25:24.301
I stick with one point of view per chapter because that's what works for me.
00:25:24.461 --> 00:25:29.641
I find it harder to do within a chapter without landing in the middle of head hopping.
00:25:30.001 --> 00:25:34.081
There are people that are able to do it and I'm really proud of them and I think that's marvelous.
00:25:34.261 --> 00:25:38.281
That is not the way my brain works. I stick with one person's point of view
00:25:38.281 --> 00:25:42.081
and then the next chapter I switch to the other person's point of view or I
00:25:42.081 --> 00:25:44.521
write from a single point of view. There's nothing wrong with that.
00:25:45.081 --> 00:25:49.021
When you are writing from a single point of view, it's even harder because remember,
00:25:49.301 --> 00:25:54.081
the character only knows what the character has seen, heard,
00:25:54.281 --> 00:25:55.921
or felt, or sensed, or smelled.
00:25:56.201 --> 00:26:02.161
Your character can't know what anybody else is feeling, sensing, hearing, looking at.
00:26:02.301 --> 00:26:06.221
They can't. So remember that. It's only from that person's point of view,
00:26:06.241 --> 00:26:08.161
and that will save you a lot of trouble.
00:26:08.261 --> 00:26:11.621
And again, if you're confused at all, please read the book. I'm going to link it in the show notes.
00:26:12.161 --> 00:26:20.301
Number 18, avoid repetitive phrases. At the moment, suddenly that, as if, whatever.
00:26:20.721 --> 00:26:24.821
Again, repetitive words, cut them out. Be ruthless.
00:26:25.181 --> 00:26:29.761
If you use those kinds of phrases and you have pet phrases, and I'm sure you'll
00:26:29.761 --> 00:26:33.661
know what they are because this is a whatever number time you've read this manuscript,
00:26:33.921 --> 00:26:38.561
again, global search and either delete or change it up, write something fresh.
00:26:38.981 --> 00:26:42.221
Change it up, get rid of pet phrases, use search and replace.
00:26:42.401 --> 00:26:43.761
You can do this. It's possible.
00:26:44.549 --> 00:26:48.249
Nineteen, again, proofread for your punctuation, missed commas,
00:26:48.449 --> 00:26:53.829
missing apostrophes, missed quotation marks, or periods, missed question marks.
00:26:54.029 --> 00:26:56.409
Go back and read through again for the punctuation parts.
00:26:56.989 --> 00:27:02.429
It is tedious. I will not kid you. It is tedious and it is the hardest part of editing for me.
00:27:03.209 --> 00:27:09.149
Take your time, break it up, take breaks, have snacks, get your favorite beverage,
00:27:09.369 --> 00:27:12.669
and sit down and just do it. There's no other way to do it.
00:27:12.949 --> 00:27:17.169
Number twenty, separate your scene breaks clearly. When you're switching between
00:27:17.169 --> 00:27:23.249
scenes, this is a question and really depends upon the formatting style that you're using.
00:27:23.289 --> 00:27:27.769
If you can find examples from either the publishing house that you're submitting
00:27:27.769 --> 00:27:31.929
to, or if you're submitting to an agent, if they have examples online of how
00:27:31.929 --> 00:27:36.909
they want you to punctuate a short story or a manuscript as far as scene breaks go,
00:27:37.089 --> 00:27:40.169
you can also check out the Purdue Writing Lab.
00:27:40.169 --> 00:27:45.849
I'll leave the link for that below. that has a lot of good information on punctuating manuscripts.
00:27:46.189 --> 00:27:49.089
And you can go through and find out how to punctuate a short story,
00:27:49.189 --> 00:27:54.229
how to punctuate a manuscript. If you don't have any other guidance from a publisher
00:27:54.229 --> 00:27:59.549
or an agent, check that out and use one of those. Pick a style and stick with it.
00:28:00.249 --> 00:28:05.029
Number 21, check for overused cliches or actually any cliches.
00:28:05.269 --> 00:28:09.749
Cold as ice, quiet as a mouse. I'm sure you know a lot of cliches. We all do.
00:28:10.009 --> 00:28:12.749
If you have them in your manuscript, get rid of them.
00:28:13.609 --> 00:28:19.029
Find another way. The only time I find it acceptable to stick cliches in is
00:28:19.029 --> 00:28:25.469
if you have a character who is going to say a cliche in response to another character.
00:28:25.609 --> 00:28:29.009
And in that case, you can preface it with, as the saying goes,
00:28:29.129 --> 00:28:30.409
and have them say the cliche.
00:28:30.749 --> 00:28:35.169
That's fine. But don't put cliches in your writing outside of dialogue.
00:28:35.489 --> 00:28:39.489
And don't have your character say it without acknowledging that it is cliche,
00:28:39.489 --> 00:28:42.929
because that goes a long way to letting everyone else know that you're clever
00:28:42.929 --> 00:28:46.769
enough to know that's cliche, but you're going to use it to show that your character's
00:28:46.769 --> 00:28:48.769
cliche. That's also a way to do that.
00:28:49.289 --> 00:28:55.769
Number 22, this is your homework. Look into what your publisher or agent or
00:28:55.769 --> 00:28:59.329
acquiring editor, how they want things formatted.
00:28:59.569 --> 00:29:02.649
You have to know and do that.
00:29:03.089 --> 00:29:07.189
If you don't, it is almost always an automatic rejection.
00:29:07.789 --> 00:29:10.989
I don't want that for you. I don't want your beautiful story,
00:29:11.169 --> 00:29:14.889
your beautiful manuscript to end in the rejection pile and not be read at all
00:29:14.889 --> 00:29:16.529
because you didn't follow directions.
00:29:16.789 --> 00:29:22.709
This is the hardest thing. This is the hardest part for anybody who struggles with neurodiversity.
00:29:23.329 --> 00:29:24.609
Following directions.
00:29:25.549 --> 00:29:29.649
It's what was written on every darn report card I ever had in my life struggles
00:29:29.649 --> 00:29:34.569
with following directions. That's true because, and it's not because of reading
00:29:34.569 --> 00:29:40.529
comprehension, it's because it involves details and it's so easy to get distracted and make mistakes.
00:29:41.407 --> 00:29:45.747
Once you have found the formatting, format it as best you can.
00:29:45.907 --> 00:29:47.847
Follow the directions. Do what they ask you to do.
00:29:48.047 --> 00:29:53.607
And then have someone look over your manuscript just for formatting.
00:29:54.247 --> 00:29:58.727
Find a friend. Find a fellow writer. Find someone you know who is really good
00:29:58.727 --> 00:30:01.967
at details. Explain what's going on and ask them to look at the formatting.
00:30:02.667 --> 00:30:08.887
And then make sure that you treat them like the gem that they are.
00:30:09.067 --> 00:30:12.507
We all love those detail-oriented people in our lives.
00:30:12.647 --> 00:30:18.267
They are so wonderful and many of them, thank goodness, are very generous and
00:30:18.267 --> 00:30:23.607
actually like picking up mistakes so that they can let you know when to correct those things.
00:30:24.307 --> 00:30:28.527
Number 23, use spellcheck but don't rely on it.
00:30:29.127 --> 00:30:35.227
Spellcheck cannot tell you if you're using homonyms and it might catch typos
00:30:35.227 --> 00:30:39.667
but it's not going to let you know if you actually did a homonym and not using the correct word.
00:30:39.807 --> 00:30:44.247
And here I'm thinking things like there and there, affect and effect.
00:30:45.307 --> 00:30:49.807
Use the spell check as a starting point, but nothing is going to beat you reading
00:30:49.807 --> 00:30:52.507
back through your manuscript to know that you used the right word.
00:30:52.947 --> 00:30:56.007
Number 24, take big editing breaks.
00:30:56.327 --> 00:31:01.247
Do your editing, but take breaks. You cannot edit pages and pages and pages
00:31:01.247 --> 00:31:04.767
and expect to do a good job with it because your brain is going to go absolutely
00:31:04.767 --> 00:31:08.247
numb, and then you're going to really hate your manuscript, and then you're
00:31:08.247 --> 00:31:09.327
really going to want to set it on fire.
00:31:09.907 --> 00:31:11.727
Trust me, take breaks.
00:31:12.487 --> 00:31:16.227
30 minutes is about all I can do. 30 minutes of editing, sometimes I can stretch
00:31:16.227 --> 00:31:18.847
it to an hour, and then I have to get up and do something else,
00:31:18.847 --> 00:31:22.007
or switch to something else, and then come back to it.
00:31:22.107 --> 00:31:25.687
You will also bring fresh eyes to it, and that goes a long way in making sure
00:31:25.687 --> 00:31:26.947
that you've done the right things.
00:31:28.047 --> 00:31:31.967
Number 25, five. Most important, give feedback.
00:31:32.187 --> 00:31:38.107
Get feedback from your beta readers before you send it out to wherever you're sending it to.
00:31:38.487 --> 00:31:44.227
Get feedback from friends that are good, detail-oriented people that will have
00:31:44.227 --> 00:31:47.407
the patience to go through your manuscript and see that you formatted it correctly.
00:31:48.167 --> 00:31:52.907
Use that feedback. Use their help. Trade them time.
00:31:53.507 --> 00:31:59.807
Trade them in kind if you can do it. treat them to a dinner appreciate their
00:31:59.807 --> 00:32:05.047
good work because these are the things that you struggle with I struggle the
00:32:05.047 --> 00:32:06.607
most with formatting and grammar.
00:32:07.487 --> 00:32:13.667
When I work on a manuscript, I depend on other people I trade other writing
00:32:13.667 --> 00:32:19.867
help with to help me make sure that I have adequately formatted my work and
00:32:19.867 --> 00:32:21.427
that I've adequately edited it.
00:32:21.927 --> 00:32:26.187
I couldn't do what I do without my beta readers, without my good friends that help me.
00:32:26.587 --> 00:32:31.107
So if you can find them, that's great. If you struggle, if you haven't found
00:32:31.107 --> 00:32:35.047
those people, now's the time to look around and maybe check out other writing
00:32:35.047 --> 00:32:37.067
groups, find other people you can work with.
00:32:37.487 --> 00:32:41.987
Even someone else who may struggle with similar things, when they see your work,
00:32:42.107 --> 00:32:43.147
it's new and different work.
00:32:43.267 --> 00:32:46.327
And sometimes if it's new or different, something that they haven't read so
00:32:46.327 --> 00:32:48.227
many times, they could recite it.
00:32:49.027 --> 00:32:53.047
They'll see things that you don't. And that's what you need.
00:32:53.167 --> 00:32:55.567
You need those people that are seeing things that you don't.
00:32:56.167 --> 00:33:00.107
So hang in there, take advantage of their feedback.
00:33:00.607 --> 00:33:06.387
And that's it. Those are my 25 ways, 25 tips to help you get your manuscript
00:33:06.387 --> 00:33:09.687
in a format that you feel comfortable sending out.
00:33:09.867 --> 00:33:14.947
There is nothing more terrifying to me personally than when I finally hit that button,
00:33:15.527 --> 00:33:21.627
the send button, to send my manuscript via email out into the world to my editor,
00:33:21.887 --> 00:33:26.987
to a new publishing house, to the world if I'm self-publishing.
00:33:27.447 --> 00:33:32.127
That's the most terrifying second in my life right now. I've had other terrifying
00:33:32.127 --> 00:33:33.687
seconds at other times in my life.
00:33:33.987 --> 00:33:36.667
But as far as emotionally terrifying, it is.
00:33:36.987 --> 00:33:40.567
And it would be lying to you to say that it wasn't. And I'm not going to do that.
00:33:41.426 --> 00:33:46.966
Exposing your art to the world is always, always stressful.
00:33:47.546 --> 00:33:53.046
So take a moment, take a breath, and take your time to edit this manuscript
00:33:53.046 --> 00:33:55.326
to the best of your ability before you send it out.
00:33:55.486 --> 00:33:59.966
It will do a lot towards making you feel a little bit less stressed when you
00:33:59.966 --> 00:34:01.926
push that button to send it off into the world.
00:34:02.086 --> 00:34:06.186
So that's it for me today. If you have any other tips or you want any other
00:34:06.186 --> 00:34:10.686
information I have about grammar, please comment. please let me know in the
00:34:10.686 --> 00:34:15.586
comments or send me an email, drop me a DM. I love to answer questions.
00:34:15.846 --> 00:34:19.366
As I said before, I will have a list of resources in
00:34:19.366 --> 00:34:26.206
the show notes to help you find Cherie's book on grammar and Jay's book on Shander
00:34:26.206 --> 00:34:31.926
Gareth's book on point of view and a few other books that I've mentioned in
00:34:31.926 --> 00:34:36.066
previous podcasts that I feel are very helpful when it comes to editing.
00:34:36.446 --> 00:34:40.046
Until next time, thanks for tuning in to Writing While Distracted.
00:34:40.566 --> 00:34:45.006
And if you've enjoyed the podcast and found it useful, please share it and tag me.
00:34:45.506 --> 00:34:49.666
DM me and let me know what you found most useful or if there's something else you want me to cover.
00:34:49.986 --> 00:34:54.806
If you have time, please leave me a review. It really helps get the podcast in front of more folks.
00:34:55.066 --> 00:34:59.146
And remember, in the dance between focus and diversion, every stumble is a step
00:34:59.146 --> 00:35:00.926
closer to mastering the art of writing.
00:35:01.206 --> 00:35:04.946
Join us next time as we continue to unravel the mysteries of the writer's mind.
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Until then, keep writing, keep wandering, and embrace the distractions that fuel your creativity.
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Stay tuned and stay inspired.
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Music.