When it comes to editing, a lot of writer’s cringe like going from a hot tub to an ice bath. For me, it’s like a calculated sweep of a mine field. If I uncover something by mistake, BOOM, I am picking up the pieces of a whole new series of thoughts and outcomes.
Editing always inspires me to become better and generally gives me new ideas either for the story at hand, the tone it reflects or a new direction altogether. So, editing can be the longest process in the world for me. Hence, I have started relying on Beta Readers to help me out for their gracious feedback.
A new trick, which I am now sharing with you, is to read your work out loud while you go. I used to skim and plow through descriptive paragraphs and overlook obvious catches because in my brain-box, I already knew everything the characters were doing. So, for me it was just seeing the same landscape over and over. But talking out loud, I was able to find how some word combinations were troublesome, missing words and just plain off.
Try it out on a chapter of yours you are working on. Heck, even if it’s a report, an email or anything.
Jonas Lee 