Editing is crucial to making your book the best that it can be. You’ve poured countless hours of work into researching and writing your work. Now it is time to refine it.
However, editing can be just as intensive as the first two steps. You might even find yourself in a constant loop during the process. Some nonfiction books could even require a different approach compared to others.
Nonfiction Editing Tips
Here are some tips you can use when self-editing your nonfiction book.
1. Eliminate grammatical errors.
When editing your work, the easiest issues to find are grammatical errors. They’re also the most distracting. Any mistakes that slip through the editing process will negatively impact your book’s quality.
Pay attention to your spelling, punctuation, subject-verb agreement, capitalization, and syntax. You don’t need to know all the rules but you do need to understand the basics. That’s just part of good writing.
You can use tools like Grammarly or the Hemingway App to assist you. But keep in mind that these tools have limitations and cannot detect nuance.
2. Cut out unnecessary words.
The job of a first draft is to exist, not to be a brilliant piece of literature. At first, you’ll have a manuscript with parts that don’t contribute to the whole.
Read your work aloud. Find which sentences are long and confusing. Ask yourself which passages bore you. Chances are if you find them boring and confusing, your readers will too! These are the weak sections of your draft.
Remove unnecessary and repetitive elements. Clarify your ideas. One particular thing to check is your use of adverbs and adjectives. Though they’re great for description, you might not even need them. If their absence doesn’t affect a sentence’s meaning, just remove them.
4. Remove clunky text.
You might be tempted to use big words and long sentences to impress your readers. You won’t. It’ll only result in purple prose. It’s a mistake that all writers go through from the misconception that good writing is all about being fancy and academic.
Why overwrite when simple language will suffice? It’ll even have a bigger impact as simpler words will reach a wider audience.
Use short sentences and simple words. Write in a way that even grade school students can understand. Your audience will drop your work if they find it difficult to understand.
4. Use active voice.
If you’re writing nonfiction, chances are you’re an expert on the subject you’re writing in. While the passive voice has its use, this can lead to a less engaging read.
In the active voice, the subject is performing an action: “Jane caught the ball.” It conveys a direct, clear, and authoritative tone. It also uses fewer words, making it a more effective way to communicate your ideas and messages.
There are situations where the passive voice is more effective. You can use it to create impartiality by adding distance as well as making your audience focus on the action rather than the subject.
If you’re unsure which one to use, write the sentence both ways and read it with the rest of the paragraph it belongs to. Choose which sounds better.
5. Check your structure.
Nonfiction books need structure to make sense. It provides your work with a logical flow and coherence.
Start with your table of contents. Do your chapters smoothly progress from one discussion to another? Do their titles accurately reflect their contents? The way you organize your book’s contents will affect how your readers understand them. You might have to shuffle things around, split a chapter, or merge two of them.
Any gap or continuity error indicates an issue with your structure. Your readers shouldn’t be confused when going through your book. Each sentence, paragraph, or chapter must provide context to the next.
A great way to maintain flow between your sentences and paragraphs is to use transition words. They’re an easy way to show connection and prevent your work from sounding choppy and abrupt.
6. Get your facts right.
Whenever you write nonfiction, you should always keep a list of your references and mark where you used information.
It’s good practice to check facts before using them but doing so with every self-edit reduces the chance of leaving wrong information in your work. This also makes it easier to identify where you lack material.
It’ll be a lot more work if you leave this for later as any change in information can change other elements of your book.
7. Do it more than once.
You won’t be able to catch all errors, gaps, and other issues with only one self-edit. Depending on how extensive your edits are, you might need several rounds.
Some writers break their editing down into sections that focus on particular issues. You could start with the big, obvious edits first and slowly work your way down to the smaller, less noticeable ones.
Distance yourself from your piece after every edit. Work on something else or take a break. Come back when you’re able to look at your work with fresh eyes.
Just remember not to get obsessed with perfection. You do still need to publish your work. Once you’re satisfied, you can choose to submit it to an agent, publication, or a professional editor for further development.
Self-Editing Vs. Professional Editing
A lot of writers think they can do their own editing. That’s fine! Self-editing is a valuable skill that all writers should hone. But if you can afford to, absolutely go for a professional editor after you’ve done some self-editing.
You’re a writer—writing is your specialty, not editing. Your goal is to write a manuscript that your audience will love. A nonfiction book editor’s goal is to bring your work’s quality up to the standards of the publishing industry.
And it’s always a positive to have a set of expert eyes look at your work before submitting it for publication. They’re not as attached to it compared to you. That objectivity will allow them to identify issues or areas of improvement that you have overlooked or hesitate to address. This leads to a more brutal, yet effective editing process.
Conclusion
Remember that these aren’t steps you need to follow in sequence but advice to follow in general. However, there is a benefit to establishing a system. What that system is and how it proceeds is up to you.
The important thing is to find a system that makes you a better editor. It might not be your main focus in writing, but knowing how to refine your work gives you a better chance of getting published.
What are your tips for self-editing? Share them below!
If you enjoyed this post, then you might also like:
- Types of Editing: Knowing What You Need When
- Copy Editing: What It Is and How You Can Do It
- Line Editing: What It Is and Why You Need It
- Developmental Editing: What to Look For and How to Find the Right Editor
Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!
