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Are you wondering if you’d benefit by printing your current novel in progress and editing it by hand? The truth is that there are a lot of benefits to looking at your work in a different format, especially if you do all your writing on a computer.
What You’ll Need
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A red pen or any color pen that isn’t black or the color of your printer ink. You want your edits to stand out on the page. I prefer the Pilot Precise V5.
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Printer paper. I prefer the cheapest stuff I can find that doesn’t have 100 reviews of ‘it jams’ or ‘feels nasty’. I typically use Hammermill and that’s because as of the writing of this article, I can get 8, 500-page reams for $29, which is $3.63 a pack.
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A cheap laser printer. I’m currently using a Brother HL-L2300D Monochrome Laser Printer because it prints 27 pages per minute, and the tray holds up to 250 sheets. The toner cartridges also print 1800+ sheets, which means you aren’t going to switching out your ink mid-novel-print, like with an inkjet. I don’t know about you, but when I owned an inkjet, I got real tired of constantly feeding it more paper and spending $30+ on ink for every single draft.
Read more: Understand the True Benefits of Editing By Hand (Pen and Paper)
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Writing a fictional story can be a daunting task for any writer. Choosing the right words and effectively developing characters are ways to attract your readers, and editing your drafts can help you achieve that goal. You want to be able to clearly add value with each sentence of your writing so that your readers do not get frustrated and turn away.
However, there may be times that your writing doesn't flow because of some editorial problems, and you may not know how to address them. Proofreading and editing your drafts is essential to grabbing your reader's attention and keeping your reader gravitated toward your writing. Without using either tool, readers will likely go to a new source for their amusement.
Here are some common editorial problems that can be found in fiction and how you can quickly fix them yourself and get your writing to flow again.
Read more: Common Editorial Problems and How You Can Fix Them
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Have you ever wondered if it’s a good idea to get a combination editing package, like a line edit plus a proofreading service, in order to save money and get your novel finished faster? If you have, you’re not alone. Many editors offer packages and services that contain more than one type of editing, but you need to be careful when choosing a service, especially one that also contains proofreading. This is because proofreading is the final step in the editing process before you format your book and publish it.
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Are you continuously seeking out new information, updated techniques, and evolving writing styles so you can stay relevant in the industry?
If not—you’re falling behind.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve been writing for three minutes or 30 years. There is always more to learn. Writing is a lifelong craft. If you're not growing, you're shrinking. If you're not learning, you're becoming outdated. If you're unwilling to change, you’re the literary equivalent of Blockbuster in a Netflix world.
🚨 This is your wake-up call. 🚨
I’ve been writing for over 30 years, and you know what? I still learn something new every single day. Case in point: I just recently figured out the difference between “sat” and “set” when writing in third-person past tense.
Sat – Past tense of sit (e.g., He sat on the bench.)
Set – To put or place something (e.g., She set the book on the table.)
I had been using them interchangeably for years. When did I realize the difference? After my ninth book. That’s not a typo. Nine. Books. In.
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A writing coach is a person that helps you through the process of writing and revisng your novel, according to your goals. This person may or may not be a writer, editor or author, but they should have experience in the industry, preferably on how to write, edit and publish novels. It's important to note that most writing coaches are authors.
What Does a Writing Coach Do?
You can think of your writing coach as the life coach for your novel. This person will take you through every stage of the novel planning and writing process until you complete your novel and are either ready to find an agent or publisher or are ready to self-publish your book.
They Help You Set a Writing Schedule, Including a Completion Date
One of the biggest things a writing coach does is help you set a schedule for writing your novel. One of the biggest problems many new and established authors have is finding time to write. A writing coach can help evaluate your current schedule and lifestyle as well as your writing goals in order to help you find a novel completion timeline that works for you.