Self-Editing on a Penny

3119 Views 28 Replies 21 Participants Last post by TromboneAl, Jun 10, 2015

aimeeeasterling

Discussion Starter · Jun 7, 2015

I apologize if someone already posted about this and I missed it. But I snagged Self-Editing on a Penny by Ashlyn Forge for free via Bookbub's alert today, I consumed the short ebook this afternoon, and I highly recommend it.

Parts will probably be old hat for most of us, but the chapter on writing first chapters was very eye-opening for me. I have a horrible time with each of my novels' opening scenes, and the techniques listed got me excited to rework chapter 1 in my current work in progress.

I'm not affiliated with the author in any way, in case you're curious. The book just pushed some helpful buttons for me, so I thought I'd share. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Self-Editing-Penny-Comprehensive-Format-Grammar-ebook/dp/B00V7OT6B2/

1 - 20 of 29 Posts

geronl

· #2 · Jun 7, 2015

got it

thanks

Gator

· #3 · Jun 7, 2015

Thanks! Grabbed a copy.

Mireiss

· #4 · Jun 8, 2015

Thanks for the tip. Got it!

sinapse

· #5 · Jun 8, 2015

Thanks! Got a copy!

Cherise

· #6 · Jun 8, 2015

Thanks!

Goulburn

· #7 · Jun 8, 2015

Thank you.

aimeeeasterling

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jun 8, 2015

You're all welcome.

I hope you get something out of it!

Sarah Shaw

· #9 · Jun 8, 2015

Looks great! Thanks for the heads-up.

WickedRed

· #10 · Jun 8, 2015

Just picked up a copy as well

Thanks

Victoria LK

· #11 · Jun 8, 2015

perfect timing, thanks!

SA_Soule

· #12 · Jun 8, 2015

First chapters are tough because they have such an important job. I revise mine more than any other scene in my novels. And my first lines get rewritten about 50 times. LOL

Annabel Chant

· #13 · Jun 8, 2015

Thanks, Aimee. Downloaded it...like I need any more books about writing. ::)

::)

Still, at least I haven't got to find room for it (there isn't any) on my bookshelves

sugarhit

· #14 · Jun 8, 2015

Snagged it, thanks

TromboneAl

· #15 · Jun 8, 2015

Nabbed it. You da man. Thanks.

geronl

· #16 · Jun 8, 2015

Later in a story you will know so much more about your characters that you almost have to re-do the beginning

Gone 9/21/18

· #17 · Jun 8, 2015

I downloaded it, but I have to admit having a problem with a book on self-editing that contains a sentence like: "Nothing quite wakes a reader up like slamming on the breaks." That was the 2d time something jumped out at me that IMO shouldn't appear in a book on self-editing (or any other kind of editing), and I was only at 22%. Do as I say and not as I do?

TromboneAl

· #18 · Jun 8, 2015

ellenoc said:
I downloaded it, but I have to admit having a problem with a book on self-editing that contains a sentence like: "Nothing quite wakes a reader up like slamming on the breaks."

Yeah, that's a disaster. I see other problems that argue against self-editing.

1. On the first page: ... the answer is yes...and no.

I know not everyone agrees, but this is the rule I follow for an ellipsis:

From http://www.thepunctuationguide.com/ellipses.html : An ellipsis is a set of three periods ( . . . ) indicating an omission [or speech that trails off]. Each period should have a single space on either side, except when adjacent to a quotation mark, in which case there should be no space. Treat an ellipsis just as if it were a word.

2. In the last sentence in the third paragraph of the first page, the semicolon is problematic. Yes, you could probably get away with it, but technically the phrase after the semicolon is not independent. Others may disagree, but I wouldn't put that on the first page.

3. The analogy of eating a meal on toilet paper could be much better and less gross.

4. The first sentence of the chapter after the preface reads:

Self-editing? Isn't that what an editor is for?

That makes no sense. She means: "Editing? Isn't that what an editor is for?" because no one would think that an editor is for self-editing.

IOW, I'm seeing a lot of things that an editor would catch. I've always self-edited, and this book is making me question that decision.

Okay, sorry, I let my inner critic out of its cage.

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JETaylor

· #19 · Jun 8, 2015

TromboneAl said:
Okay, sorry, I let my inner critic out of its cage.

I like your inner critic.

And it is funny but I think an editor is absolutely necessary because you as the writer do not see some of the errors. It's the way the brain is wired. The only way I've been able to see things is reading the story in reverse. In that way each sentence stands by itself and even in that situation, I've missed things that my editor has cleaned up.

Shoe string budgets aside, self-editing is great for making the book as clean as you can get it before handing it off to said editor/proofreader.

Anyhow - I did download the book because I'm interested to see if it has any tricks to catch errors that I haven't found.

Catana

· #20 · Jun 8, 2015

ellenoc said:
I downloaded it, but I have to admit having a problem with a book on self-editing that contains a sentence like: "Nothing quite wakes a reader up like slamming on the breaks." That was the 2d time something jumped out at me that IMO shouldn't appear in a book on self-editing (or any other kind of editing), and I was only at 22%. Do as I say and not as I do?

I didn't see that, but in a very quick skim through the first few chapters, I found two errors. Not typos, but advice that was incorrect.

1 - 20 of 29 Posts

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