NaNoWriMo: Resources for December

Self-Editing

by Tara L.

Congratulations to everyone who participated in NaNoWriMo 2010!  Whether you met the 50,000 word goal or your own personal benchmark, the question is this:  What do I do now?  No matter if you want to polish your work for publication, or just clean it up for your personal enjoyment, the next step is self-editing.

Fictionista Workshop recommends the following resources to help you start your editing process.

Tips For Editing Your Own Novel — BubbleCow offers writers tips from grammar to formatting, tense, and narrative arc.  This resource will help you revise your copy and get it to its peak form.

Twelve Common Errors: A Self-Editing Checklist for Students — While this resource from UW-Madison’s Writing Center may be aimed at helping students edit their school work, you are never too old to revisit some basic writing rules.

Editing Fiction — Fiction Factor breaks down your story into specific editing areas, while highlighting common pitfalls for each.

10+ Ways to Improve Your Writing by Self-Editing –  Tech Republic’s article offers up 10+ tips for polishing your writing, including specific editing practices and proofreading guides.

Grammar Guide for Self-Editing — Bertram’s Blog guest host, Paul Allen Leoncini, offers grammar advice he received from agent Kelly Mortimer.  The list includes common mistakes (a while vs. awhile) and a list of synonyms for commonly overused adjectives.

As always, Fictionista Workshop is committed to supporting writers in all stages of their writing journey.  Next week, we look at resources designed to help you navigate the query process.