5 Simple Ways to Edit Your Own Book

As soon as you breathe a sigh of relief as you finish writing the last lines of your book, you are instantly reminded of that single character whose arc you may or may not have messed up. The overuse of a word or different things you know are not appropriate or correct for your manuscript. You soon realize that now you have got to hire a professional book editor or contact any book editing services to help you with your manuscript.
How about you try to edit your manuscript yourself before sending it to someone else to help you edit? If you take some time to learn and use some of the self-editing techniques and ways, you will not be able to do it yourself, but it will also improve your abilities as a writer. 

Here a five ways you can edit your own book: 

1. Let Your Manuscript Rest:

When you are done writing the last lines of your manuscript, leave it aside or put it away in a safe or cupboard for some time. In his book,'On Writing', Stephen King explains that whenever he finishes or completes his drafts, he puts them aside and forgets about them for about six weeks before he checks them again. 

When you put your finished book aside for that long, you will forget what it was about and it will seem as if it is someone else's when you get back to It. Also, to edit your manuscript, you need to be fresh with fresh eyes and energy. Then, when you are done with your self-edit, you can send the manuscript to your editor or contact any affordable book editing services for a re -check. 

2. Listen to Your Manuscript Yourself:

When you hear your own words, your mistakes will become easily obvious and easy to correct. You can get your patient and calm friend to read it to you or you can use your computer's speech synthesis.
If you're a Mac user: 

• Click the Apple icon on the top-left of your screen and select'System Preferences', then click'Accessibility' and then'Speech'.
• Select a'System Voice' and'Speaking Rate' you can bear.
• Then select'Speak selected text when key is pressed'.
• If you want to change the keyboard combination, click'Change Key' and follow directions. It would be preferred to use Option + Esc.
As soon as you have selected your shortcut key, highlight the text Follow the words on screen as your computer reads them. You want read aloud and hit the shortcut key.
If you're a PC user:
• Make use of Narrator, part of the system's Ease of Access Center.
• Press “Windows + U” and click “Start Narrator.” Since the program is intended for blind users, it will automatically begin To read any text your mouse encounters. To turn this off, hit “Control.”
• To have Narrator read a paragraph, place your cursor at its beginning and type “Caps Lock + I.”
• To have Narrator read an entire page, press “Caps Lock + U.”

3. Look Out for Hard Words: 

While writing your book, you will use many words that will cause you to think twice to understand whether you are using them correctly. If you are aware of the hard words in your text, you can use the search function of your word processor to locate every possible alternate of that word to understand the meaning. You can always look up the list of troubling words on the internet for help. 

4. Look for Problematic Punctuation:

Do you tend to overuse the innocent punctuation such as comma, colon, semicolon even where you're not supposed to use it? If you know you have problems using punctuation marks, simply search the punctuation mark and check if you are using it correctly or If you are still not sure if you used the right punctuation, just ask your editor to do it later but remember to ask why he or she corrected it. This will help you with your problematic punctuation. 

5. Use an Automated Editing Program or Use Spell Check:

While writing your manuscript, you may ignore the colorful wavy lines that underline certain words and phrases. However, these lines under those words mean something. They point out some sort grammatical or spelling mistake that you may have made. So before sending your manuscript to Your book editor, run it through spell check or use an automated editing program to correct all the mistakes. Spell check is a built-in correction system in your PC or you can use automated editing programs, preferably Grammarly.
Before sending your manuscript, which All these tips will also help you improve as a writer. Is surely full of many mistakes, to your editor, make sure to self-edit it so that it saves your editor some time correcting basic mistakes and errors.