Getting Lucky: Top 7 Editing Tips for 2022

Editing is a way to help make a manuscript pretty and appealing to readers. (Photo by Shelley Widhalm/Shell’s Ink Services)

By SHELLEY WIDHALM

Good writing stops with bad editing.

If there are errors in grammar, punctuation or syntax, reading is more difficult, attention gets pulled to the wrong place, and the writer comes across as unprofessional.

Especially if the book is self-published, I’m inclined to stop reading even if the plot is exciting. I’ve lost trust the writer cares.

Writing can’t be a one-and-done draft. It takes layers of editing, and it takes time, precision and repetition. To be most effective, editing is best done on multiple levels and in several rounds, since not every error can be caught in a single pass and there are several things to pay attention to all at once.

What Editing Involves

Editing involves a close read and making large- and small-scale changes. Small changes are at the line level, or each line of text, and the large at the structural level from the overall story to the plot and character arcs. Proofreading is the final edit to give a final review of everything.

At the line level, editing involves fixing sentences and paragraphs for errors in grammar, syntax and mechanics, as well as spelling and punctuation. At the structural level, editing looks at the entire story content as well as adherence to the main story and flow from beginning to end. The focus is on the main and secondary characters, setting, dialog, theme, pacing, conflict, tension, logistics and consistency in things like character and setting descriptions.

To edit in layers, do a first read-through for missing details or areas that give too much description or story information. Look for too much back story up front or an ending that ends the story before the plot strands make sense.

Top 7 Editing Tips

• Determine if there are boring parts or parts that are over-explained.
• Look for unnecessary scenes that repeat other scenes or do not move the story along.

• Cut unnecessary words and sentences that do not keep the pacing at the right speed.
• Use the active voice whenever possible.
• Look for any elements that don’t carry through, such as a dropped character or a setting detail that doesn’t matter.
• Vary the sentence structures, so that not every sentence reads subject-verb-object.
• Get rid of clichés, unless used for a specific purpose, because they demonstrate a lack of creativity.

One Final Thought

Editing moves a rough draft into a polished product that people will want to read. It gets rid of errors and unnecessary words and descriptions to get to the core or heart of the story.

Advertisement

Happy Valentine’s Day! (and goodbye chocolate)

Candy and chocolate are a big part of some holidays like Valentine’s Day, but do we really need all those carbs? (Photo by Shelley Widhalm/Shell’s Ink Services)

By SHELLEY WIDHALM

Valentine’s Day is the key chocolate-related holiday, but really chocolate and candy get extra promotion from Halloween through Easter.

Then there’s a lull from April to September, though there are a couple of holidays during those months, including May Day and Independence Day. Those holidays get their own attention, but it has nothing to do with candy—instead it’s about delivering baskets, lighting fireworks and getting together over hotdogs and other American faire.

Back to Valentine’s Day and chocolate—I’m on the keto diet for health reasons and within two weeks have seen a decline in my need for chocolate. I still believe I need espresso drinks and have found the sugar-free versions are okay enough. My cutback on sugar and carbs has also resulted in a reduction in my desiring unhealthy foods, though dark chocolate has been shown to be rich in nutrients—flavanols may help improve blood flow, lower blood pressure and protect the heart.

Essentially, I’ve edited out sugar and reduced carbs from my diet and, at first, felt a low level of energy. Now my energy is back to what it was, and at least mentally I feel better about not relying on sugar for a mood/love boost.

That’s what Valentine’s Day is about—messages of love, which really shouldn’t have to do with candy, though they are sweet. The sweetness should come from the delivering and the receiving of the love message, not in the actual sweet (and unhealthy) ingredients.

I wish you on February 14: Happy writing. Happy editing. Happy Valentine’s Day.

And happy cutting out the unnecessary, whether it is food or extra words.

Lucky in Love (with Writing) on Valentine’s Day

Sure, I like my boyfriend, but my other love is writing!

By SHELLEY WIDHALM

When it comes to a romantic holiday like Valentine’s Day, do you think about your other love?

I do, though I’m not cheating on my boyfriend—I happen to love him and writing both. Valentine’s Day is about declaring your love for your love as in “Be Mine,” giving valentines to friends and enjoying all the different presentations and forms of chocolate. And it’s about the other loves—passions, hobbies and jobs.

This year, I’m showing my love for writing by setting aside at least a half hour a day, now that I got rid of a heavy burden on my schedule. I think of this time as a gift.

The Valentine’s Day tradition of giving gifts and exchanging cards developed out of Saint Valentines. Several Saints called Valentine are honored on Feb. 14, a day that became associated with romantic love during the Middle Ages. Traditionally, lovers exchanged handwritten notes and later greeting cards when they became available in the mid-19^th century.

Today, greeting cards and notes are a way to share sweet thoughts with friends and lovers. The written messages in them can be saved, reread and kept as physical proof someone is thinking about you. They’re also a way to spread love.

Here are 7 Things to Love about Writing

• Writing is a way to figure out what you really think or feel about something.
• It’s a way to play around with words and language.
• It’s a way to improve your understanding of words and the best ways to get your message across.
• It’s a way to express yourself, using your intelligent and creative minds at the same time.
• It’s a way to make connections with text, memory or experiences that you might not otherwise make by thinking or talking.
• It’s a way to tell stories and disappear into another world, where you don’t see the page and can’t tell you’re writing.
• It’s a way to be whoever you want to be and do whatever you want to do, going places and doing things you might not do otherwise.

Writing is a Perfect Match

It’s interesting to find out what it is you created after spending a few minutes or hours on a story or essay. It’s a process of discovery from seeing your thoughts written out. It’s a sense of accomplishment from meeting a word or time goal. And it’s reciprocal, because when you give your time and energy, you get back notes, then a rough draft and finally more as you keep working. In other words, you’ve found your match.

Getting Lucky: Top 7 Blogging Tips for 2022

As Valentine’s Day approaches, it’s time to think about Getting Lucky—in blogging, that is!

By SHELLEY WIDHALM

Is it easy to get noticed when facing a number like 600 million?

Yes, when it comes to blogging as long as you find the right audience among the 6 million blogs posted daily and 2.5 billion a year.

At first, the numbers can seem daunting. Everyone’s blogging so why should you? How can you possibly gain traction with so much competition?

For one, blogs are almost the expectation for writers, entrepreneurs and business owners to promote their books and businesses and get their ideas and written content to readers, customers and clients.

But they can seem like a chore or a time sucker, keeping you away from what you really want to do. In business-speak, there is a big ROI, since blogs, if done effectively, can gain SEO-traction for higher online rankings.

Blogs help with marketing, branding and creating a platform. They demonstrate expertise and authority in a subject, offering value to readers. And they help create relationships and convert readers to customers, resulting in engagement and a following.

Top 7 Blogging Tips

To get your blog noticed and to get that engagement from readers, here are a few things you can do to improve your blog in the New Year.

• Post on a regular basis at the same time and on the same day. Optimal is once a week, but twice a month also is great for visibility.
• Write short- or medium-length blogs to keep the attention. Short blogs are about 200 to 400 words; medium-sized blogs, 500 to 700 words; and article-type blogs, 1,000 words are more.
• Create blogs that educate, inform or entertain and not just to fill space for SEO. Blogs produced through content mills are about clicks, providing little meaning and value.
• Think about whom you are you writing to, what voice you want to use to reach them and what it is you want to say. Also, keep to a core subject or theme.
• Figure out what you want to say about your business, your newest product or service, or your latest book. You can show your process of creation or give a behind-the-scenes look in your business. Or you can talk about your life as a business owner, writer or artist.
• Include related photos or images to draw attention to your text and to give a visual representation of your content.
• Promote your blogs on social media at least three times, preferably every other day.

The Advantages of Blogs

Blogs have many advantages. They can bring traffic to your website and hopefully into your business. They build relationships with readers through regular connection. And they separate you from the competition.

Getting Lucky: Top 7 Poetry Tips for 2022

Shelley Widhalm of Shell’s Ink Services poses by one of her poems that was selected in fall 2021 for the Forces of Nature exhibit at the Windsor Art & Heritage Center. The exhibit will continue through January 2022.

By SHELLEY WIDHALM

I write a poem a day every day—some days I work ahead. Sometimes I get behind. But I keep writing.

Poetry can be practice for flash fiction, description and longer works. It also can be a final product that is both an art and a discipline employing specifics of form and use of language.

Poetic Forms

A poem’s form ranges from free verse open in structure to a fixed form with specific rules. Free verse doesn’t have a meter or syllable count or rhyme scheme unlike the fixed forms of sonnets, sestinas, villanelles and haikus. Semi-fixed forms like prose poems combine poetry and prose in a block of text written in poetic language.

No matter the form, poetry uses poetic devices to add musicality to words. The devices include alliteration, the repetition of initial consonant sounds; consonance, the repetition of internal consonant sounds; and assonance, the repetition of vowel sounds. Onomatopoeia occurs when words imitate the sounds they stand for, such as hiss, buzz or squawk, and slant rhyme when nearly identical words have similar sounds, like “feel” and “real.”

Poems also can take a lyrical or narrative approach. A lyrical poem is about a single image, thought or emotion expressed as a snapshot or fixed moment of time. A narrative poem tells a story and has a plot with beginning, middle and end.

No matter the form and approach, poems are about feeling, emotion, stories and moments or they capture an experience, thought, idea or observation.

To Write a Poem

• Think of the intent of the poem and what should be expressed.
• Use the senses—seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting—to describe thoughts and observations.
• Play around with words and descriptions, putting random words on the page and rearranging them.
• Avoid using clichés, trite words, generalities and vague concepts, opting for comparisons and concrete language instead.
• Cut words like “and,” “that” and “the” and other unnecessary words.
• Give specific details instead of generalizations or vague descriptions.
• Explore what the poem is really saying and look for ideas that can be further explored.

One Final Thought  

Poetry, no matter its form, shape or the devices it uses, becomes art as it uses language to create something of beauty, and its craft through the employment of those devices to make that beauty.

Getting Lucky: Top 7 Writing Tips for 2022

The 3-inch snowman sits outside the Sheraton West Denver hotel following the Dec. 31, 2021, snowstorm that broke records falling so late in the winter season. The snowman can serve as inspiration for lucky writing.

By SHELLEY WIDHALM

In 2021, I pumped out a poetry collection in one month, writing all the poems afresh.

But then I got stuck. I kept writing poetry for my daily poem challenge, but I didn’t do any other type of writing.

Whether writer’s block is real is debatable. But motivation is as is doing something about it. That’s why I’m picking up Lisa Cron’s Story Genius and working through the plotting workbook for my next novel. Maybe I’ll figure out why I’m not writing anything longer than a few hundred words.

Part of it might be the “rejection effect“—I’ve submitted my novels to agents but have gotten the “not yet” or “not for me” responses. I moved past calling the responses hard and fast “no’s,” since getting traditionally published is a subjective, uphill trial requiring toughness and persistence.

With all of this “negativity,” I figured I need to get lucky. Here’s how:

Top 7 Writing Tips

• Create inspiration by doing the writing. Don’t wait for the feeling you want to write. Just start.
• Identify a place to write to establish comfort and routine. Then write in odd places to add variety.
• Make writing a plan with daily, weekly or monthly goals. Write for a set amount of time, such as one hour, or until a certain word count, starting with 500 or 1,000 words.
• Give up some of the control. Trust your subconscious to make connections your conscious mind isn’t ready to or won’t necessarily be able to make.
• Don’t be a perfectionist. Rough or first drafts are called that for a reason—the story or message unfolds and isn’t readily formed until it’s written.
• Accept that writing is supposed to be hard. Focus on the process instead of the results to make it more fun and enjoyable.
• Read and to analyze what you read. Identify what works and what doesn’t work and why. Apply what you learn to your own writing.

Get Lucky with Words                                                                                           

Once writing becomes a regular part of your schedule, it can feel like luck. You write. You produce. You have finished work as a result.

That’s my plan for 2022. To write another book and get unstuck.

Want Fun New Year’s Eve Plans? (Mine are about the 1920s)

Paul, my NYE date, and I are goofing off trying on funny hats. We don’t have our 1920s outfits yet!

By SHELLEY WIDHALM

I love New Year’s Eve for the ultimate fun factor—and the flashback to 1920s wild parties.

The night is all about frivolity, but then the next day, three months of the big holiday pileup is essentially over until Valentine’s Day. In the meantime, January can be a bit depressing with cold, snowy, short days that have to be slogged through to get to spring and baby animals.

Luckily, January is introduced with a big party night. I’m showing up as a flapper in a feather headpiece, elbow gloves and … yes, sparkly jewelry.

Oh-h, a Gala!

My date and I are going to the 19^th White Rose Gala, a Roaring 20s Great Gatsby NYE Party, at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver. I haven’t gone to a fancy, expensive party, ever, so I’m super stoked to stay up past my usual 10 p.m. bedtime curfew.

For this curfew-bending outing, my date rented a 1920s tux, and I’m wearing a little black ruffle dress, pearls I already had and sparkly dangling earrings, all that match photos I found online of Great Gatsby accessories.

I “edited” my outfit to fit the decade, sans cigarette holder, since I hate cigarettes (the smoke interferes with breathing and crap) and holding things, especially for hours on end, unless it’s some cute guy’s hand or a drink, preferably rum and Coke.

Here’s a Bit of History

The 20s were known for Prohibition, riotous spending, flourishing arts, jazz music, speakeasies and nightclubs, along with a sudden change in clothing. Women went from tight corsets and floor-length hemlines to the loose glam of the flapper dress. Shorter hems allowed for easier movement, and accents like strings of pearls and tassels showed off dance moves. Men, too, opted for stripes, bold colors, suspenders, vests and less formalwear when they hit the town.

Hemlines rose from the ground to the knees (scandalous! Plus, miniskirts won’t even appear until the 1960s!). Hair went short—women showed off their bobs with rounded felt hats and headbands embellished with feathers, sequins and jewels. And makeup became smoky, dark and daring.

Here’s Something Personal

Flappers dressed for wild nights out. I, too, love partying, though I’m buttoned-up and disciplined about writing, editing and work. I used to be a party girl during college and after until I went to grad school, when I had so much homework to do, I had to focus on that or not get my perfectionist-chasing straight As.

I partied some while building my career, but to a lesser extent. With all the worry about success, I never let loose like the convention-defying flappers, instead doing what I was supposed to. I think that’s why NYE is so riotous—you can escape the boundaries of responsibility to ascertain your real energy. Mine’s a bit wild. Though if you met me, you’d probably think I was nice, a nerd and quiet.

Not really.

Fitting in Writing During the Holidays

Zoey the Cute Dachshund wears an “Ugly T-shirt” during the holidays, though she’d prefer to not wear silly human clothes.

BY SHELLEY WIDHALM

The holiday calendar can fill up fast with fancy parties, family get-togethers and ugly sweater contests, leaving little room for keeping up the writing routine.

For me, skipping a whole month is too much of a break, so even a couple of sessions in December keeps the focus on my main goal. If I stray away from writing for too long, I get a little anxious and then find it hard to return to my old habit.

To keep writing on my holiday to-do list and busy calendar, I have to have a plan, be disciplined and set a routine.

Writing Routines

Here are a few ways I’ve learned to be disciplined in writing no matter the time of year:

• Buy a planner or use a phone app for 2022 and schedule specific writing days.
• Write daily, or at least a couple of times a week, selecting a specific time or place to write, e.g. keep writing office hours.
• Clock in the hours you write, both for accountability and to acknowledge what you have accomplished, and add up the hours every week or month and compare them over time.
• Write for five or 10 minutes in between other activities, using a notebook that you always have with you. Those minutes will add up over time, as do the pages.
• Write a writing action plan with goals for the year and check in every few weeks to mark your progress.
• Take a writer’s retreat, even if it’s in your hometown, setting aside a couple of days to focus on writing (maybe as a reward for surviving the holidays or just before everything gets busy).

Writing Results

Once writing is routine and you mark your progress toward your goals, you can see success, while also being able to engage in the fun of the holidays.

For my routine, I like to calculate how many hours I spent on writing novels and short stories, writing poetry and revising my work, along with the time I dedicated to writing each month. I can tell when I’ve gotten distracted and for how long, not putting in those important hours and minutes that can add up to a significant amount, especially in a year’s time.

This holiday, I plan to stay on track and keep to my original goal of writing at least three times a week, writing a poem a day for my daily poem challenge, and fitting in writing whenever I can. That way I can get in more writing for my year-end tally! This year, it looks like I’ll have put in close to 400 hours, or about 10 40-hour workweeks.

Note: I provide editing, writing and ghostwriting services and can help you perfect your project from an article or blog series to a short story or novel. I also offer consultations on writing and editing through #ShellsInk at shellsinkservices.com.

A Handy Editing Cheat Sheet

BY SHELLEY WIDHALM

Once you’re ready to self-publish, rushing the editing process may lose readers and hurt author branding.

The book likely needs one more step, or your credibility might be called into question if it’s published too soon. To do that step takes time and several rounds solely and with group input from critique partners/groups and beta readers. At the very least, editing should be done at the developmental, copy editing and proofreading levels.

Developmental editing looks at the structure of your novel from the story arc to the characters, setting, dialog, theme, conflict, tension and pacing. It also looks at consistency in all the story elements of character, setting, plot and dialog.

Copy editing gives a close look at every line of text to check for story, style, transitions and repeats, as well as grammar, spelling, punctuation, syntax and other mechanics of style.

Proofreading gives a final pass to catch the errors not caught in the first two rounds, since it’s impossible to see every single mistake in a solitary read. This requires a careful, slow review of each paragraph.

Through the editing process, there are several things to think about, which are compiled in a simple, straightforward cheat sheet.

Editing Cheat Sheet

• Cut unnecessary words and sentences that do not move the story along or confuse what you’re trying to say.
• Vary the sentence structures, so that not every sentence reads subject-verb-object. Use varied sentence lengths and structures and mix in short and long paragraphs.
• Look for needless repetitions, awkward transitions and poor word choice. Avoid repeating words, facts and details.
• Opt for the active voice over the passive voice. For example, say, “The child picked the tulips,” instead of “The tulips were picked by the child.”
• Keep verb tenses the same, especially within a sentence.
• Replace adjectives and adverbs with nouns and verbs.
• Use the active voice whenever you can.
• Get rid of clichés, unless used for a specific purpose, because they demonstrate a lack of creativity.

Editing in Passes

Editing is best done through a few passes, since not every error can be caught in the first go-around with several things to pay attention to all at once. Editors are trained to find those flaws and oversights and to improve your writing and storytelling, so that your novel will have great structure and flow. That way readers won’t put it down out of frustration at too many errors or a story that doesn’t make sense or matter to them.

Note: I provide editing, writing and ghostwriting services and can help you perfect your project from an article or blog series to a short story or novel. I also offer consultations on writing and editing through #ShellsInk at shellsinkservices.com.

Why Work with Other Readers, Writers First

Don’t spin in circles with your writing, but try to find other writers and readers to give your work an evaluation before hiring an editor.

By SHELLEY WIDHALM

For writers wanting to self-publish, hiring an editor is an investment, as is getting a great cover design and the correct formatting for an upload.

But writers can do some of the editing work themselves—they can self-edit, work with a critique group or partner, and send off their work to beta readers.

Start with Self-Editing

To do their own self-editing, writers can use a checklist to evaluate the issues of their work (novel, novella or short story collection). Often in question format, checklists go over each element of writing, including plot, character, dialog, setting, tension, conflict, pacing and themes. They can help with things like gaps in plot, inaccurate calendars if it’s June but winter, and blurred secondary characters that sound the same or serve roles that could be combined.

Writers also can revise the book as a first “reader,” looking for skipping of plot points, logistical misalignments and description inconsistencies, as well as areas where the book is boring or moves too quickly, glossing over essential story points.

I like to do this and then do a couple more rounds while still looking at pacing, identifying what doesn’t make sense and where there are gloss-overs in descriptions or dialog. Could things that are summarized be set into scene for instance?

Work with Others

Once the book has gone through at least two rounds of editing, ask for feedback—more than one evaluation is ideal for varied and more comprehensive comments. Evaluations are essential since writers miss things from being too close to their work and not having the ability to encounter it for the first time as new readers.

Feedback can come from beta readers or a critique partner or critique group. Beta readers are readers first, while critique or writing partners are readers who also are writers.

Find a Critique Partner

Critique partners (and groups) generally do an exchange of work to provide feedback, typically more general in nature as opposed to looking for grammar, spelling and punctuation issues.

They can point out where the writing gets muddy—descriptions might be unclear or assume reader knowledge about a specialized topic. They can check character identities to see if details of appearance are consistent throughout (brown eyes stay brown) and that characters are differentiated by their mannerisms, speaking styles and ways of approaching life.

Working with partners is way to figure out what’s not working in the story and to get suggestions for making improvements.

Add Beta Readers

Beta readers may not enjoy writing but do love reading. They should have a basic knowledge of what makes for good writing, as well as an understanding of the elements of the craft. They also should read in the book’s genre.

Beta readers provide feedback based on their skills, knowledge and experience of writing. Like with writing partners, they point out what they think isn’t working in the manuscript and offer ideas for improvement without changing the writer’s voice. They point out areas that don’t make sense and ask questions, providing clarity on how the reader experiences the work.

Make the Hire

Once the book has had a critical audience, then it’s time to hire an editor, either at the developmental or copy editing level.

An editor will give that professional overall or line-by-line view of the work, not skipping over things because personal life gets in the way or they’re learning about the craft or the genre. They are paid to pay attention to every aspect of the work, identifying areas to fix and asking targeted questions for a rewrite, or simply polishing it up to make it ready to publish.

Note: I provide editing, writing and ghostwriting services and can help you perfect your project from an article or blog series to a short story or novel. I also offer consultations on writing and editing through #ShellsInk at shellsinkservices.com.