# Self-Editing

## Why Self-Editing Cannot Replace Professional Editing

Authors cannot see their own work objectively. The blind spots created by familiarity are precisely what outside readers can address. Self-editing done well makes every subsequent editorial pass more productive — but it is no substitute for professional editorial input.

Budget for editing as a production cost, not as an optional luxury.

## The Successive Passes Method

Work through the manuscript at decreasing levels of scale. Each pass focuses on one level:

### Pass 1: Structure (Developmental)
- Does the whole thing work? Read it through without stopping to fix sentences.
- Are the parts in the right order?
- Is anything missing? Is anything superfluous?
- In fiction: is the internal story driving the plot? Is the protagonist active?
- In nonfiction: is the argument clear and does it build?
- Mark big-picture problems. Do not fix prose yet.

### Pass 2: Chapter / Section
- Does each chapter earn its place?
- Does each chapter advance the story or argument?
- Are there chapters that repeat what earlier chapters established?
- Do chapters end at points that propel the reader forward?
- Is the pacing right — neither rushed nor dragging?

### Pass 3: Scene / Paragraph
- Does each scene touch the third rail (the protagonist's internal struggle)?
- Does each paragraph lead to the next?
- Are there paragraphs that could be cut without loss?
- Is exposition integrated into scenes, or dumped in blocks?
- Are transitions smooth? Does the reader always know where they are?

### Pass 4: Sentence
- Is each sentence clear, necessary, and well-constructed?
- Are there hedging adverbs, empty intensifiers, clichés?
- Is the sentence variety appropriate?
- Is the tonal register consistent?
- Do long sentences carry the reader, or lose them?

### Pass 5: Word
- Is each word earning its place?
- Can adjectives be absorbed into stronger nouns?
- Can adverbs be absorbed into stronger verbs?
- Are there qualifier ticks (just, very, kind of, sort of)?
- Is the vocabulary level consistent and appropriate?

## Self-Editing Techniques

### Read Aloud
The single most effective self-editing technique. Reading aloud reveals:
- Awkward rhythms and clunky sentences
- Missing words and wrong words
- Passages that are too long or too convoluted
- Dialogue that sounds unnatural
- Repetition that the eye skips but the ear catches

### Print and Read on Paper
Changing the physical medium changes your relationship to the text. Errors and weaknesses visible on paper are often invisible on screen.

### Read Backwards
Read sentence by sentence from the end of the chapter to the beginning. This breaks the flow of expectation, forcing you to evaluate each sentence on its own merits rather than riding the momentum of the narrative.

### Time Away
The longer you can leave between writing and revising, the more clearly you see. A day is better than an hour. A week is better than a day. A month is better than a week. The goal is to read as a reader, not as the writer who knows what they meant.

### Beta Readers
Seek honest developmental feedback before investing time in line editing. There is no point polishing sentences in a chapter that needs to be restructured or cut.

Choose beta readers who:
- Represent your target audience
- Will be honest, not just supportive
- Can articulate why something works or doesn't (not just "I liked it" or "I didn't")
- Understand the difference between their preferences and the book's needs

### The Author's Most Common Blind Spots

1. **Assuming the reader knows what you know** — the curse of knowledge. You wrote the backstory; you know the world; you understand the character's motivation. The reader doesn't.

2. **Attachment to material that doesn't serve the story** — scenes, characters, research, and passages that represent real work and real quality but don't belong in this book.

3. **Over-explaining** — providing more context than the reader needs, often because the writer isn't confident the point has landed.

4. **Under-explaining** — skipping steps that feel obvious to the writer but aren't obvious to the reader.

5. **Consistency errors** — the details that shift subtly between drafts (eye colour, timeline, geography, character names).

6. **Pacing deafness** — inability to feel where the book slows down, often because the writer finds the material interesting regardless of whether it moves the story forward.
