Final Draft Editing

Hey guys! Guess what- I got my edits back and I'm so excited. I'm getting closer and closer to publishing and I can't take it. So now what...

I have this five page sheet of all the things I need to fix and edit. What do I do with them? And how do I move forward? I'm feeling a tad overwhelmed, exhausted and frustrated. I don't know what to do with all this amazing advice I've been given. So here's how to get started on that final product.

The best thing I find about editors is that they look at your book from a new eye. Mine didn't know a thing about the book minus the genre. She found a bunch of little holes and loose strings that I never would have found. Now that I know, I can easily run back and fix them, tie up the loose ends and my book reads better.

• Check your grammar. Make sure all punctuation, quotation and everything else follows code and is done correctly.
• Usage. This is a big one for me. Make sure that your verbs and nouns agree with their tenses and in number. Since I use first person, it's easy to mix up and slip into past tense. So keep track and make sure everything agrees with each other.
• READ IT OUTLOUD. AGAIN. This one is really huge and has helped me tremendously. I can't explain how much I catch when I read outloud. You can figure out if things sound awkward or unrealistic. It really does help. I promise. 
• Cut. Cut. Cut. Cut. Cut. Cut. I can't say this enough. One of my critiques was that there's too much thoughts. So with my scissors I'm going to have to go through it with a fine toothed comb and cut out whatever is insignificant or unnecessary. 
• Find a dictionary or a thesaurus and a grammar book and figure out if you're doing it right. There's no shame in consulting the experts. They know what they're doing for a reason. I had issues with my dashes versus hyphens or whatever. I looked in the book and saw I was doing it wrong. Easy fix but without the book, I might look a little silly. 
• Format! Make sure you format your book the way you want. If there's a change in scene make a double space with something in the middle. Make sure your chapters line up.

Another thing I love about having an editor is that they can really get a feel for the story line. One part I got ahead of myself and talked about a subject that hadn't been introduced yet. She caught it and reminded me that the character shouldn't know. When we write we tend to know where the stories going and could forget a scene or conversation. 

Lastly! My editor gave me a big boost of self esteem. She listed off the things she liked and what really worked for my book. Now I'm more eager to get the project published because I know I have a good story. It's a nice lifter before publishing and it's getting me motivated to finish fast. 

My advice? Hire an editor!