Editing Journey

One ! per 50,000 words. This was the first editing/writing advice I scribbled in the notebook I had started as a dumping ground for my ideas and observations. I checked the ten chapters I had completed by that point to discover they had over 100 exclamation points. That was the beginning of my interest in learning about self-editing.

On my creative writing journey, I've collected advice from books, blogs, mentors, courses, and articles. They've trickled down into the lined pages my notebook, jotted between coffee stains, doodles, and an occasional to-do list.

The task of completing my first novel occupied eight months of my life, but the time came to go to the beginning and self-edit. That's how this list was born. I've centralized the disjointed advice and knowledge I have absorbed and I plan to use it to edit my own writing. Maybe you will find it useful as well.

I expect this list to grow and change as I find out more. Please, let me know what I am missing. I have a hard time saying no to learning new things.