DIY EDITING TIPS!

#1-Road to Self-Publishing Starts with Editing
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DIY Editing Tips for a Smooth Writing Ride

Those who have taken the road to the self-publishing journey, fully realize that good editing is essential to make the ride from unpublished to self-published successful. But by the time we pay for a top-notch cover design, decent interior layout, and proofreading, we might be running low of gas, or–er, uh … funds.

Hiring a good content editor might be an expensive proposition. And most of us know that editing and writing are two different functions. You may also realize that editing or proofreading is difficult to do without a fresh pair of eyes. In other words, as far as editing goes (proofreading. too) you will want someone else to drive for a while—someone with fresh eyes. To see the difference between content editing, copy editing, and proofreading read the article Understanding Self-Publishing Services..

With a quick self-edit, if you are a good writer, you could step on the gas to pass to publishing without an editor. If not so confident, at least once you hire an editor, this quick self-edit will save oodles of editing time. The cost will be less, with the editing much improved..

So here we go with these DIY Tips for Editing to make the ride to published smooth going. Once you know what to do, they are easy, just highlight and delete; and you are good to go!
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MINIMIZE VERBS ENDING IN ING: When verbs end in “ing,” the writing often takes on a tone of the passive voice. This is not true 100% of the time, but most of the time, the writing piece will snap into shape if you delete verbs ending in “ing.” Change the verb from the “to be”  to the action from of the word. In the sample below, I changed rewriting to rewrite; happening to happens and bringing to bring. See how it makes the action fresh and alive?
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Writing Sample #1: In this sample we are rewriting the action as if it is happening now. Bringing the action into the present is key to making your writing compelling.

Writing Sample #2: In this sample, we rewrite the action as if it happens now. For irresistible writing, bring the action into the present.