#fyre2018

1. FIRST ROUND EDITS
Self Editing before the professionals get your
manuscript

2. Points of Discussion
• Fonts and Characters—First
Things First
• Checking for Common
Mistakes—Getting Down and
Dirty
• Revamping Punctuation—
Commas, Ellipses, and
Colons- Oh, my!
• Dialogue Tags—Saying Things
the Write Way
• Numbers—A,B,C or 1,2,3?
• Miscellaneous Stuff—More
Things to Fix

3. LET’S TALK FONTS AND
CHARACTERS
First Things First

4. Readable Fonts Make the Editor’s Job Easier
Press Ctrl + A to select all text
in the manuscript then set your
font. My publisher prefers
“Garamond”, size 12.
Next, get rid of errant double
spaces by using the Find &
Replace function (Ctrl + H).
• In the “Find What” field,
enter two spaces
• In the “Replace with” field,
enter one space
You may need to click “Replace
All” one or two more times.

5. CHECKING FOR COMMON MISTAKES
Getting Down and Dirty

6. Be Prepared: This takes up a lot of time!
No-no
 It & It was – Always try to replace the
word ‘it’ with a more visual word
 Impossible Simultaneous Actions
 Disembodied Body Parts
 That
Examples
 It was cold. The dismal day was cold. Or,
The cold bit at her exposed skin like a
thousand razor blades.
 Sweeping the floor, he put away the
broom. These are impossible to do at the
same time.
 His eyes stared at mine. (Incorrect) He
stared at my eyes. (Correct)
 Us the “Find” function to seek out every
use of ‘that’ and remove any unnecessary
usage of this word. Read the sentence out
loud to determine if it still makes sense
without it.

7. Common Mistakes cont. . . . .
No-no
 Dangling Modifiers- Make sure you use
the right noun for the opening phrase
 Only- Put the adverb “Only” as close as
possible to what it modifies
 Of- Another filter word
 Redundancies
Example
 Having finished the assignment, the TV was
turned on. "Having finished" is a participle
expressing action, but the doer is not the TV set
(the subject of the main clause): TV sets don't
finish assignments.
 Incorrect: The team only scored two runs in the
first seven innings. Correct: The team scored
ONLY TWO RUNS in the first seven innings.
 Tommy traveled inside of a ship. No need for
‘of’ in this sentence.
 Nodded her head. Shrugged his shoulders.
Clenched his fists tightly. Sat down. Stood up.

8. And . . . .
No-no
 Not varying sentence structure
 Began to. Nearly. About to. Almost-
These are telling words, vague, and
sometimes passive.
 Show vs. Tell
Examples
 Starting every paragraph on a page the
exact same way with a name, or a
he/she, or I did this or that.
 Instead of: “She almost cried”, show us:
“The burden of the news crushed her,
but she held the pain all inside, never
allowing a tear to escape.”
 Don’t tell me a character is sad. Show
me when a character is sad. Do they
cry? Do they lie around, staring outside?
Do they have drooping shoulders?
Distant stare? Decreased interaction?

9. And . . .
No-no
 Passive Sentences- Search for the word
“was/were” and rewrite where passive.
Get rid of “she saw,” “he heard,” “they
felt”…
 POV- Stay in one character’s POV within
a scene & share only information that
character would know.
 Consistency- Make sure you’ve remained
consistent with your use of names,
places, physical description.
Examples
 I was standing in the dark alley./ I stood
in the dark alley. She saw the lightning
strike. / The lightning struck.
 Paige can’t know Johnathan thinks she’s
beautiful unless he says as much. So,
no “Johnathan stares at me, thinking I’m
the most beautiful girl in the world.”
 Keep a spreadsheet to keep them
straight if you have to.

10. And . . .
No-no
 Timelines
 Sentence Structure (awkward phrasing),
Proper Word Usage, Repetitive or
Overused Words
 Spelling, Grammar, Punctuation- use
spell check and grammar check
Examples
 A story that starts on a Tuesday, a week
passes, but it’s now Thursday. What?
 Let’s talk about these last few items...
The reason that awkward sentences are such
a problem in your manuscript is that they
make reading hard work. If your reader has
to re-read sentences to understand what you
have written, they will get annoyed and may
not finish reading the book.

11. Punctuation
Let’s talk
about
commas
first

12. Commas
 Put a comma before the conjunctions and, but, for, or, nor, so, and yet when they
connect two independent clauses. Example: My favorite color is pink, but I do like
blue.
 Separate three or more items in a series with a comma.
 Put a comma after an introductory word or phrase that tells when or why. Example:
Whatever the case, this isn’t working.
 Use a comma to set off interruptions. Example: Karl walked into the room, the place
looked a lot messier than when he was here a moment ago, and cringed.
 Use a comma to set off names or terms of endearment/titles in dialogue. Example:
“Oh, Brit, you always know how to make me laugh.”
 Use a comma to show a natural pause in speech or internal thoughts. Example:
Well, this is going to hurt!

13. Commas
 Use a comma between two or more adjectives if you could use the word and
between them. Example: His tan, muscled arms made my heart pound.
 To set off a date when the full date is provided. Example: I was born on July 7, 1980.
 To separate street, city, and state in an address.
 And, as you can see, I’m in favor of using the Oxford comma...

14. Ellipses and Em Dashes
 Ellipses... Are used to show a trailing off
in narrative or dialogue. Use them
sparingly.
 Em dash or horizontal bar—This is the
double hyphen, used without spaces
before or after
 To show an interruption to introspection or
dialogue
 To show an interruption in dialogue by the
speaking character’s action: “Do not fear
what the future holds, and do not allow
any of them”—Alec tilts his head toward
the soldiers—“to see your concern.”
 To set off information within a paragraph
of narrative or dialogue: I saw the
robber—how would I ever forget his shiny,
red car—drive off that way.
 To set off an “aside” in narrative: Such a
powerful piece of magic, and she’s
playing—flirting almost.

15. Semi-Colons, Colons, Slash, Bold or Underlined Words, Italics,
Quotation Marks
 Semi-colons can be used to separate two related and complete sentences.
 Colons can be used to set off an introduction from its series.
 Slash: Use a slash in your manuscript the same way you might use it informally
elsewhere. Example: 24/7.
 Bold or Underlined Words: Do not use! (same for ALL CAPS—don’t use)
 Italics can be used for emphasis and made-up/foreign words, to indicate a dream
sequence, to indicate names of books/plays/magazines/TV shows/songs, and
sometimes to indicate internal monologue.
 Quotation Marks: Single quotation marks are used for quotes within quotes
(dialogue), and only quotes within quotes (dialogue). Example: “Why does she
always say ‘say cheese’ before pictures?”

17. DIALOGUE TAGS
Doing Dialogue the Write Way.

18. Dialogue
Do’s and Don’ts
 Saidisms are standard dialogue tags
such as said, asked, and replied. These
are separated from the dialogue by a
comma, which goes inside the closing
quotation mark, and the next word
always begins with a lower-case letter.
 Action Tags are character actions that
provide dialogue attribution without
using a saidism. These are separated
from the dialogue by a period, which
goes inside the closing quotation mark,
and always begin with a capital letter.
Examples
 “Your spaceship is amazing,” she said.
 “Your spaceship is amazing.” She rushed
through the hatch.

19. Dialogue
 Do not mix two characters’ action/dialogue tags!
 Incorrect Example: “You let that greasy pig off too easily,” Fiona mumbled, holding a sharp, wooden
needle between her lips. I glanced down at the top of her red head.
 Correct Example: “You let that greasy pig off too easily,” Fiona mumbled, holding a sharp wooden
needle between her lips.
I glanced down at the top of her red head.
Also, in the example above, you don’t need both a dialogue tag (Fiona mumbled) and an
action tag (Fiona held a sharp, wooden needle between her lips).
 If a character’s dialogue goes on for more than one paragraph, use opening quotes
on every paragraph, but don’t use close quotes until the character is done speaking.

20. NUMBERS
A, B, C or 1, 2, 3

21. Numbers
 0-100: Spell out. Example: One, two, three, four...
 101 and above: Use the number unless it’s followed by the word hundred, thousand, or
hundred-thousand. Example: One hundred thousand cars are in that dump.
 Wattage: 60-watt bulb.
 Use words for age, fractions, and height.
 Use numerals in addresses and for dates/years, rooms, to indicate gun calibers, for
measurements within recipes and for temperature, and when there is a slash
(24/7/365)
 9-1-1 always 9-1-1
 Write out decades and centuries: The forties, the fifteenth century.

22. Punctuation
saves lives!

23. MISCELLANEOUS STUFF
More fixes

24. Misc.
 Time: Only use a.m. and p.m. **Use
numbers if the time is specific. Example:
We’re leaving for The Clearing at 3:00 a.m.
**Spell out the numbers if the time is not
specific, or if the specificity is obvious
from the context. Example: I hate waking
up around five.
 Miscellaneous: Directions and regions:
use lowercase to designate north, east,
southwest. When referring to a
region/country/etc. use capitals: North
America
 Plurals and Possessives:
 The general rule is that the possessive of a
singular noun is formed by adding an
apostrophe and s, whether the singular
noun ends in s or not. For names ending
in s you can add an apostrophe and s or
just an apostrophe.
 the lawyer’s fee
 the child’s toy
 Tom Jones’s first album or Tom Jones’ first
album
 The possessive of a plural noun is formed
by adding only an apostrophe when the
noun ends in s, and by adding both an
apostrophe and s when it ends in a letter
other than s.
 children’s toys
 the twins’ parents

25. Misc.
 Lay/Lie present tense: Lay means “to
place” and requires an object. Lie means
“to recline” and takes no object. You “lie”
down on a sofa, and you “lay” down a
book.
 Lay/Lie past tense: This is where it gets
confusing because “lay” is the past tense
of “lie.” Last week, Steve lay down on the
floor.
 The past tense of “lay” is “laid”(as is the
past participle): Mary forcefully laid her
ring on the table. Mary has forcefully
laid…
 The past participle of “lie” is “lain”: The cat
has lain in the mud for hours.

26. Misc.
 Sir, sir, Miss, miss – and Titles/Professions:
 Address in a letter: Dear Sir
 In dialogue: “May I help you, sir?”
 Honorary Title: “May I help you, Sir John?”
 Terms of endearment: not capitalized
 “Sound” Words: two letters after the initial letter
(Shh, Mmm, Ahh).
 Other “Sound” Words: Crack, boom, thump, etc.
should all be in italics.

28. Holli’s Info:
www.holli-anderson.com
Author and Chief Editor of Immortal
Works Press
Email: handerson.author@gmail.com
Facebook: Author Holli Anderson/H.L.
Anderson
Twitter: HaAuthor
Books sold on Amazon, Barnes & Noble,
and Walmart.com

29. Jason’s Info:
www.authorjasonking.com
www.immortal-works.com
Author and CEO of Immortal Works Press