Editing Tips: Watch Out for Tautology

When you say the same thing twice with different words, it's a "tautology". They make manuscripts wordy.

Examples:

If a movement is necessary for an action, the movement is included in the action and doesn't need to be spelled out separately.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* . ───

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Whole-heartedly BEGGING writers to unlearn everything schools taught you about how long a paragraph is. If theres a new subject, INCLUDING ACTIONS, theres a new paragraph. A paragraph can be a single word too btw stop making things unreadable

Ok So I’m getting more notes than I thought quicker than I expected! So I’m gonna elaborate bc I want to. 

I get it, when you’re someone who writes a lot and talks a lot, it’s hard to keep things readable, but it’s not as much about cutting out the fat(that can be a problem) so much as a formatting issue. 

You are also actively NERFING yourself by not formatting it correctly, it can make impactful scenes feel so, so much better. Compare this, 

To THIS. 

Easier to read, and hits harder. 

No more over-saturated paragraphs. Space things out.

@s1ld3n4f1l​ WAIT WAIT WAIT SO TRUE LITERALLY LITERALLY 

I'm not contrarian when I'm saying this - OPs are absolutely 100% right - but sometimes it is appropriate to use a huge paragraph. You have to be artful with it, though. I specifically use big paragraphs when something is going wrong - we're trapped in a character's stream of consciousness as their world goes out of control or they're entering a manic state.

It's all about framework and knowing how your character is feeling in the moment and building the bones of the story around that concept.

Sometimes it might bother you that when you’re finished writing a story, you end up with enough discarded and unused material to make a whole second story.

Do not think of this as a failing. Those leftover bits are the Mirror Universe version of your story, and the fact that you defeated it is ultimately a good thing. Its goatee was silly, anyway.

the bits you cut out aren’t like building scrap that is only good for birdhouses and bonfires. they’re like cookie dough. you can mash them up, roll them out again, and cut out a whole new story.

use the fish shaped cutter this time. that one’s my favorite.

hmm yeah not surprised in the slightest (please note: this is not the fault of the editors. they're overworked and underpaid. it's the fault of the heads of tradpub deciding to maximize quantity over quality, time and time again.)

It's going to get worse with AI, you know. All of these corporations are going to be like "What do we need to pay editors for!?" And you'll get a bunch of really shit writing

yeah as a freelance editor? this keeps me up at night tbh.

Do you ever start writing something that you’re excited about and that seems like it’s turning out well and that you’re getting eager to share, and then you start typing it up or doing an edit pass and it’s just awful it’s awful its premise is fundamentally flawed and it’s out of character and the prose is clunky and the plot is badly paced and ludicrous and the whole thing is embarrassing, how could you have done this, how could you have sunk so much time into this, you can’t even look at it, how is this that shining thing you were so excited about, how could you even have considered finishing it let alone sharing it with anyone, you’re crying, your mother is crying, nuns are spontaneously exploding in the streets,

reread the WIP I wrote this about and turns out actually it’s fine

How is this so accurate 😭

Most of the time our perception of our own writing is skewed. Just take a break from it if you feel this way. If you don’t like what you’re writing, just put it aside and come back to it later. Usually it’s fine, or you need the time to think, and when you come back to it, you’ll see how you can fix it.

The Dos and Don’ts of Giving and Receiving Constructive Criticism

Some of these should be painfully obvious and yet. They come from experience.

Receiving feedback:

Do

Don’t

Giving Feedback:

Do

Don’t

This is from my personal experience beta and sensitivity reading, and dealing with other beta and sensitivity readers. We are all human and these jobs are not one-size-fits-all and there aren’t really hardline rules as every author, editor, and manuscript is different with different needs.

Just some things to keep in mind.

But also, for the authors who do write self-insert Mary Sues: You are in for a very rude awakening if you expect anyone other than yourself to adore your book with zero criticism. If you really just want someone to proofread and look for typos, tell them.

editing is so fun. I'm learning what the story I wrote is about

sometimes after you learn what your story is about, you resolve to write a thematically appropriate sequel. this, unfortunately, means you have another section to edit, and now your story means two things. maybe more. imagine.

This post understands editing like nobody else. Everybody else delete your blogs. I want to be alone with OP so we can talk.

editing your own writing is like woah you really like commas........ maybe ease up on those commas there, pal........ maybe Fewer commas would be nice

hows the ellipses editing going?

……….why do you ask………

Good stuff.

Guys, I edit professionally. This list is legit. Incorporating these suggestions before you hire an editor will save you A LOT of money. Even if you did these and nothing else, you’d see significant overall improvement in your work.

That said, you don’t have to overthink these things when you’re writing a first draft. If you write, “she said angrily” in a first draft, you can always revisit the phrasing in a second draft. I mention this because overthinking style can lead to a loss of momentum, and losing momentum is why so many people never finish a draft. Give yourself permission to write fast, write messy or ugly, and edit your draft into beauty later.

I've been writing for a while so I thought I'd share some writing tips I've learned along the way.

1. Never sacrifice the flow for a quirky line.

That bit of dialogue or flowery paragraph you really like but it kinda disrupts the flow? Scrap it. I know it hurts, but you need to. If you really want to keep it, find somewhere else to put it where it actually fits in.

2. Dialogue is a dance.

Dialogue should go at the pace of an actual conversation, back and forth with little breaks and pauses. Add as little dialogue tags as possible while still making it clear who is speaking. You can also describe what is happening during a pause in the conversation rather than saying they paused, unless the pause is important.

3. Show don't tell is a guideline, not a rule.

Show don't tell is a very useful guideline, but if you're ALWAYS showing it can get exhausting to read. Skip the boring bits and just tell us what happened, then we can get to the good stuff.

4. If it's boring to write, it's probably boring to read.

If you can cut out a whole scene with little consequence to the story, you probably should. As I said before, you don't always have to show us, you can always tell us.

5. Everything needs to have a purpose.

I know there are probably lots of interesting or cute scenes where your characters are just fucking around, but if it doesn't develop character, relations, conflict, or plot, why should we care? Definitely still write them if they make you happy, but if you're gonna add it to your final draft, make sure it matters.

6. You don't need to explain everything all at once.

I know it feels tempting to put all the lore, and all the character's intentions, and reasonings into the first few chapters, but please refrain, you can reserve that for your character and worldbuilding sheets. Instead, take the time to let us get to know the characters, and the world, in the same way we'd get to know a real person. Make your exposition as seamless and natural as possible. It will take practice to know when to reveal information and when to let us wonder, but you'll get there.

7. Write in a way that comes naturally.

I know you probably have an author you wanna write just like, but that is unlikely to happen. Embrace your natural writing style and perfect it, rather than trying to be something you're not. Writing is an art, you need to find your own style and polish it as best you can.

8. Try to make us feel connected by cutting out certain words like "felt".

"Chad felt like a glass of water." Can be replaced with, "Chad was thirsty, so he reached for a glass of water." Both sentences tell us Chad wants a glass of water, but one makes us feel more connected to Chad than the other. Though both sentences have their time and place, you want to make your audience feel as close to their protagonist as possible. Make them feel like they're there, rather than just an onlooker.

9. We don't need to know every physical detail of your character.

I know you probably spent ages creating the perfect characters and you want to give us the perfect image of what they look like, but it can get monotonous and boring, why do we care that your character has brown eyes unless the colour has some sort of significance? Try to list off only the most notable features of your character and put focus only on the relevant details. Sometimes you can even not describe them at all and throw in little bits of information about their appearance for the audience to put together. We read to imagine, not to have a perfect image painted for us when we could be getting to the plot.

10. You're allowed to be vague.

Allow your audience to assume things, with some things you can just be lazy and let your audience's imagination do the work for you. Of course, don't do this with important things, but you can save so much time you might've spent researching an irrelevant topic when you can just be vague about it. You don't have to know everything you're writing about, so long as you know the bits that matter.

11. Writing is a skill that takes practice.

Don't be so hard on yourself if your writing is a bit cringe, we've all been there. The important part is that you research how to get better and keep writing those super cringe chapters. One day you'll reread something from a while ago and realize you're actually not as bad as you thought.

12. Leave your work to rest.

I know you wanna start editing right away, but once you've finished, leave it for at least a month. The longer you leave it the better, but that depends on your attention span. A month to six months is good if you're really impatient but want a good result. If you keep writing in that time your skills will continue to improve, then you'll be editing that draft with fresh eyes and fresh skills.

And if you're a fanfic author, I usually leave my chapters for a week before editing and posting.

Hope this helps anyone struggling, I thought this might be especially relevant now with nanowrimo.

I recently realized how much knowledge I've been accumulating over the years, I definitely have more but this is all I can think of for now.

I'm no writing guru, but if anyone has anything they're struggling with, I can do my best to help you out, so dont hesitate to ask questions.

So... I found this and now it keeps coming to mind. You hear about "life-changing writing advice" all the time and usually its really not—but honestly this is it man.

I'm going to try it.

Note: This is ideally done in the revision phase, since the number one rule of the rough draft phase is to get the story onto the page no matter what shortcuts you have to take to do it.

googledocs you are getting awfully uppity for something that can’t differentiate between “its” and “it’s” correctly

oho and now you’re questioning my adverb usage? you? you?

you fucking dare?

you try to change ‘tears’ to ‘years’ for no reason but don’t catch ‘imporint’???

hey quick question gdocs

what the fuck

1. how the fuck did this post become so popular

2. everyone just commenting ‘QUERCHED’ is delightful

3. some people have suggested i use grammarly. this is letting the robots win and also would deprive me of the opportunity to complain about insignificant technical things instead of just wanting to scream over writing all the time

4. i use googledocs because i want access to my writing on multiple platforms and also because fuck microsoft 

5. the difference between [its] and [it’s] is that [it’s] is always used as a shortened form of [it is] and [its] is used as the possessive of [it]. yes, this goes against the usual practice of just tacking on an [‘s] when you want to indicate ownership. yes, english is absolutely a trash language.

btw, gdoc’s most recent transgression:

noooope

LITERALLY THE EXACT OPPOSITE MEANING OF WHAT I WANT, GDOCS

i’m sorry what kind of AI FUCKERY is going on here that you are trying to ADD IN ADVERBS FOR ME that could ENTIRELY CHANGE THE TONE from a neutral ‘He’d been young’ to something that would put emphasis on just how young he was and how long ago it was you cannot just THROW EXTRA WORDS IN LIKE THAT

‘he’d been so young’ I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU

OH MY FUCKING GOD ARE YOU SERIOUS

me @ everyone else using googledocs:

YOU

I just listened to a podcast with an A.I. research scientist. She said if you wouldn’t trust autocorrect to be in charge of a decision, then you shouldn’t trust another A.I. with it, so… that’s something to worry about

The reason “its” doesn’t have an added apostrophe is NOT because it’s an exception. It’s because “it” is a pronoun and follows the rules of pronoun possessives. For classic pronouns, it goes “that object is his/hers/theirs/its,” not “that object is he’s/her’s/their’s/it’s object.” If the first three of the latter group look wrong to you, so should “it’s” when you’re using “it” as a pronoun.

English is OFTEN a messy language, but this isn’t one of the reasons why.

— Robert Gottlieb

Pro Tip for Writers

If you want a great spelling check website, all you have to do is hit the "post/publish" button and all your mistakes will become abundantly obvious to you through the magic of absolute mortification

The pain is real, folks...

I... think I’d be physically ill if something like that happened to me...

tricky words I always see misspelled in fics: a guide

Hope this helped! Please add more if you think of them!

Counsel/Council - counsel is advice, the advice giver, or the verb form of giving said advice. Council is the group of people who come together to discuss and/or make decisions.

Desert/Desert/Dessert - desert is a barren landscape where little precipitation occurs. desert - abandon (a person, cause, or organization) in a way considered disloyal or treacherous. dessert - a usually sweet course or dish (as of pastry or ice cream) usually served at the end of a meal.

OH MY TIME IS HERE! I HAVE MADE A POST I KEEP FOR THIS EXACTLY

Taunt/Taut - Taunt is a jeer or provocation, taut means to be pulled tight, or not slack

Weary/Wary - weary means tired and wary means cautious

Rogue/Rouge - rogue is a person who has unaffiliated themselves from what they were before (is the general understanding); a person or thing that behaves in an aberrant, faulty, or unpredictable way - rouge is red

Wonton/Wanton - a wonton is a dumpling, wanton is (of a cruel or violent action) deliberate and unprovoked and/or sexually unrestrained

Haphazard/Halfhazard - haphazard means to  have a lack of plan, order, or direction - the other isn’t a word

Corporal/Corporeal - corporal is a lack of plan, order, or direction and corporeal is to have a physical existence: to be tangible: of a person’s body

Peck/Pec - the first is a kiss (peck) and the second is the shortened version of pectoral (pec)

Virile/Viral - to be virile is to have strength, energy, and a strong sex drive (typically said about men) and then this last year (2020) has personally taught us, is how viral a plague can really be, so of the nature of, caused by, or relating to a virus or viruses

Vulnerable/Venerable - vulnerable means being susceptible to physical or emotional attack or harm, and if a person is venerable they’re accorded a great deal of respect, especially because of age, wisdom, or character (or if you’re religious, holy)

Dyed is something that is colored, and died is deceased

Chalk (it up to something) ; chock (-full of something); choked (to cutoff air).

to affect is the action, the effect is the end result

If something doesn’t bother you then you weren’t fazed by it. If you are between two states of being that is a phase.

Please. For the love of all things holy. I beg you.

Loose: the opposite of tight

Lose: to misplace something or the opposite of win.

I BEG YOU.

breath is the noun, breathe is the verb

Ah perfect. I needed these words for an alien character to get them all wrong when writing to a human.

Ohh! I have some!

Notching is when you make a notch in something, while nocking is the act of slotting an arrow into a bowstring.

Reign is a period of rule by a person of royalty or authority, and rein is a strap used to control or guide an animal. Likewise, it’s the same for phrases like “ reigning champion” and “reined in”.

A cord is usually something like a thin rope or a wire, and a chord is something that you play on the guitar.

Reliving yourself means you’re remembering a part of your past; relieving yourself means you’re going to the bathroom

When something is diffused it means it’s spread out, like what happens when you add dye to water. When something is defused it means the situation is made safer or less tense, like removing a fuse from a bomb. 

Sweetie: A term of endearment or affection (usually understood to be a shortened form of “sweetheart” or “my sweet”), or occasionally a word used with very small children for candy.

Sweaty: Covered in perspiration.

does anyone else do a thing when reading...pretty much anything, fanfiction, online articles, webnovels, published fiction - where periodically you'll kind of go "oh I don't like that wording, rephrase" or "that sentence structure is awkward, here, let me fix that for you" and like. mentally edit it in your head. and not even, like, in a critical way, exactly, just kind of "hmm I would have used a different word here. and now I will" and mentally overriding what's actually on the page?

like, I'm reading something right now that had the phrase "maul open to swallow a prey" and my brain looked at that and went "whoops you mean *maw open to swallow prey" and then moved on relatively seamlessly as though that was now what it did, in fact, say. but it isn't.

have no idea if I'm making any sense. maybe everybody does this. it just sometimes makes reading a weird experience for me when I notice it happening