Last week, I listened to a wonderful talk that discussed creative writing editing mistakes that writers make. The talk was held in the Inkslingers Den Facebook Group which is a great resource for writers. The talk was given by Angela James, a professional editor who worked for Carina Press for over 10 years. As I watched I took notes and decided to share her 11 editing mistakes here on my blog too.

11 Creative Writing Editing Mistakes Writers Might Be Making

1. Forgetting to use spellcheck
(do use it as well as proofreading) Be sure to spellcheck your query letter as well. It will also tell you if you are using an alternate spelling of a name.

2. Being in a hurry to get to submission or publication.
When you’re in a hurry you’re not giving yourself time to fully develop story and characters. Don’t be in a hurry. give your story the time it needs to be written. Easy to compare to others but don’t do that. Slow down and take your time.

3. Not giving your story a rest.
Let the story breathe. take a break and come back. You’ll see it with fresh eyes when you take a break even if it’s just for a week.

4. Not self-editing
You’re in a hurry, just typing the end and that’s your final draft. Big No No. Self editing is really important. You’ll find lots of things that have snuck in so be sure to self-edit.

5. Never listening to your own work
By this, she means having the computer read the manuscript to you. You can do this on word and on most software programs. This is her number one trick for authors who are stuck or wondering if their scene is going in the right direction. Listening helps you to hear and notice things that aren’t right. You’ll hear what someone else hears versus what you think you’ve written. It removes you from the work and lets you spot things. It gives you a lot of insight into what’s working as well.

6. You might not be working with an experienced and qualified editor.
Really important. An experienced qualified editor is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself and your book. A bad editor can be worse than having no editor. An editor should help you craft a better book and not just focus on writing rules that can interfere with your writer voice. Good editors can help you reach the audience you want to reach. Your quality of product reflects on your brand as well. If you don’t deliver a quality product readers won’t come back for more. Your editor should love your work, get your voice, and get your story.

7. Listening to too many “Writing Rules”
You shouldn’t pay too much attention to writing rules. Such as never use adverbs. Ridiculous rules as they are an important part of a sentence. Adverbs do serve a function. Never use passive voice is another but this is also necessary at times. if you are listening to all the things you can’t do and trying to make sure you don’t use them, you can affect the voice of your story and this can be a big editing mistake as it can strip out the personality of your story and your voice. Some rules might have good advice but question them first.

8. letting your ego get in the way
It means you believe that no one can possibly know or understand your book as well as you can or that you don’t need an edit or to self-edit. You think editors are wrong or any criticism you receive is wrong. you do need to be in love with your book and be passionate about it but there is a difference between the two. Editing means you have to set your ego aside so you can both self-edit and work with an editor.

9. not using contractions
A lot of new authors do this. Sometimes the words coming from your head onto the page have a different rhythm or cadence to them. example. I will not do that instead of I won’t do that. Contractions are a good thing. They make your writing sound real. They also help with the flow so when you don’t use them it can lead to pacing problems and make the story feel stilted. You can use them in dialogue and narrative.

10. Over Editing
Authors sometimes have a hard time letting go of their work and they keep polishing hoping to get it just right. Over editing can lead to you losing the personality of your work. Too much editing and you might take out the things that make the story charming or make it sparkle. It can be really hard to get the magic back so don’t over-edit.

11. You might not be allowing yourself to fall in love with your own work.
You have to love your own writing. Let yourself fall in love with your book and be proud of your writing. Have confidence in it and it’s okay to be passionate about it.

These creative writing editing mistakes are so useful, and if you’d like to know more about Angela or take her course, here are the links you need.
Website: www.angelajames.com
Follow her on Twitter: www.twitter.com/angelajames
Facebook:www.facebook.com/angelajames
Instagram:www.instagram.com/angelajameseditor

I hope you enjoyed this post about creative writing editing mistakes and found it useful.

Until next time,

Keep reading and writing,

Amanda

Amanda J Evans

Amanda J Evans is an award-winning Irish author and writing coach. Amanda writes adult romance that often crosses into paranormal and fantasy. Growing up with heroes like Luke Skywalker and Indiana Jones, her stories centre on good versus evil with a splice of love and magic thrown in too. Her books have all won awards and her novella, Hear Me Cry, won the Book of the Year Award at the Dublin Writers Conference 2018. Amanda is also the author of Surviving Suicide: A Memoir from Those Death Left Behind, published in 2012.

www.amandajevans.com