How-to

  • How-to

    How to use hyphens correctly

    Confused about how to use hyphens in your writing? Here’s my handy guide to hyphens, with plenty of tips and examples to help you out.

    Ahh, hyphens. How can one little mark cause so much confusion? If you’re a writer you’ve no doubt spent some valuable time mulling over whether you need a hyphen in your sentence/title/character’s name/chapter numbers. Or perhaps you boldly throw them in whenever it feels right – you follow your heart when it comes to that little dash and hope for the best.

    Like most forms of punctuation, hyphens were not conceived to confuse writers, but to clarify text. They’re super helpful, and when you know how they work, you’ll be grateful they’re part of your writing toolbox.

    1. What is a hyphen?

    To be clear, I’m talking about the punctuation mark that’s a short horizontal line: –

    You might call this a dash, but a hyphen is not technically a dash! Dashes are longer horizontal lines known as an en dash (–) or an em dash (—) and they serve different functions. We’ll talk about them in another post.

    What are hyphens used for?

    Let’s start with an overview of what hyphens do. You might be surprised to find that they have quite a diverse skill set.

    Hyphens are used to:

    • – form compound words
    • – form compound adjectives that modify nouns
    • – add prefixes to words (and suffixes)
    • – connect names
    • – connect numbers
    • – indicate stuttering or spelled-out words

    So, yeah. It’s a lot.

    Hyphens in compound words

    Did you know that words like tomorrow, teenager and notebook were once hyphenated? Yep, they were really spelled like this:

    • to-morrow
    • teen-ager
    • note-book

    Weird, right? Over time, they’ve evolved to become one word, no hyphen necessary.

    But when we’re still getting used to the idea of two or more words becoming one, we often use a hyphen (or hyphens) to form a single unit. For example:

    • six-pack
    • brother-in-law
    • a two-year-old
    • double-check

    Not all dictionaries agree on the state of play for hyphens in compound words, so it’s always best to check your relevant dictionary or style guide. For instance, the Macquarie Dictionary prefers wellbeing as one word, but the Merriam-Webster Dictionary lists it with a hyphen: well-being. And to make matters more confusing, some compound words are left permanently ‘open’ – no hyphen. Think real estate, living room, washing machine and iced tea.

    Using hyphens to create compound adjectives that modify nouns

    This is my favourite use of the hyphen – connecting two or more words that modify a noun.

    The main reason we use hyphens in this way is to avoid ambiguity. As an editor, I’m always striving to make writing clear so the reader can absorb its meaning without stopping to reread the sentence. Great writing is kind of invisible – you’re not thinking what does that mean? as you read, you’re just taking it in. Even a moment’s confusion can disrupt a reader and pull them out of a story, and that’s why punctuation marks like the hyphen are a writer’s best friend. It’s a tiny bit of punctuation doing a big job.

    For instance, if you wrote:

    • He demanded that they provide more experienced staff next time.

    And you meant that he was demanding different staff who had more experience than the noobs who have just filled the role, rather than an extra number of staff with the same level of experience, you would use a hyphen to make that meaning instantly clear:

    • He demanded that they provide more-experienced staff next time.

    The hyphen shows that more and experienced are working together to modify the word staff.

    Or perhaps your character wanted to convey how many people were at an event in a casual way. You could write:

    • ‘Oh, I’d say there were about thirty-odd people there.’

    If you left out the hyphen – thirty odd people – your character would be describing the people who attended the event as odd, rather than giving a rough sense of how many showed up.

    Regardless of ambiguity and absurdity, we still hyphenate compound adjectives before a noun. Here are some more examples:

    • We went to the five-star hotel
    • She had golden-brown hair
    • He is a seventeen-year-old boy
    • The adults-only pool
    • An impossible-to-find address

    Note that when the sentence construction is flipped so that the modifying words come after the noun, they don’t require hyphens:

    • The hotel had five stars
    • Her hair was golden brown
    • The boy is seventeen years old
    • The pool is for adults only
    • The address was impossible to find

    Hyphens with adverbs ending in -ly

    Before you get excited and start adding hyphens to compound modifiers everywhere, a word of caution: you don’t need to use a hyphen between adverbs ending in -ly and the word they are modifying. For example:

    • Wrong: A beautifully-designed home
    • Right: A beautifully designed home
    • Wrong: The gently-loved toy
    • Right: The gently loved toy
    • Wrong: A happily-married couple
    • Right: A happily married couple

    This is because adverbs used in this way are pretty much impossible to misinterpret, so adding a hyphen here is considered a hypercorrection (a ‘correction’ that adds an error). Not all words ending in -ly are adverbs, though. For example, family-friendly event is hyphenated because family is a noun, not an adverb.

    Hyphens with long phrasal adjectives

    What about when you have a long phrase – more than three words – modifying a noun?  There are a few ways of treating these, and it’s up to you how you’d like to approach it. Personally, I prefer hyphens, but quote marks or italics can also work, especially if it’s a particularly long phrase. Here’s what I mean:

    • She wore a don’t-mess-with-me expression
    • I clocked her do not go there look
    • The old house had a ‘someone definitely died here’ feel

    Hyphens with prefixes

    Let’s talk about the other headache in the writer’s studio: prefixes. We use a hyphen for clarity when adding the prefix doubles or triples a vowel or consonant:

    • co-opt
    • re-examine
    • bell-like
    • pre-eminent
    • anti-inflammatory

    (Although, not always. Some words are well known enough that they no longer use a hyphen, like cooperate and coordinate. Always check your dictionary if you’re unsure.)

    A hyphen is also used with a prefix to help us distinguish between words that are spelled the same way but have a different meaning. For example:

    • re-creation / recreation
    • re-cover / recover
    • un-ionise / unionise
    • re-sign / resign

    You should always use a hyphen with the prefix ‘ex-’:

    • ex-president
    • ex-boyfriend
    • ex-employee

    And when using ‘self’ as a prefix:

    • self-satisfied
    • self-employed
    • self-absorbed
    We also often use a hyphen with the prefix ‘non-‘: 
    • non-porous
    • non-event
    • non-hyphenated (I know!)

    Hyphens with numbers

    Another use case for hyphens is in numbers 21–99 when written out as words:

    • twenty-one
    • eighty-three
    • two hundred and ninety-nine

    They’re also used to join parts of a fraction when written as words:

    • two-thirds
    • one-quarter

    Use hyphens with numbers as figures or words when they’re forming a compound adjective. For example:

    • A 17-year-old boy
    • Take a 10-minute break / take a ten-minute break
    • A two-storey building  
    • The 44-room hotel / the forty-four-room hotel

    What about when referring to height? Perhaps you want to describe your characters’ height in feet. Generally, this doesn’t require hyphens:

    • He stood tall at six foot two
    • She was all of five foot nothing

    But, remember the rule about compound adjectives modifying a noun:

    • A six-foot-two man
    • The five-foot-nothing woman was angry
    • She wore four-inch heels

    Hyphens in names

    Do all double-barrelled last names require a hyphen? No. This is up to the individual, even if other family members use the hyphen, so always check if you’re referring to a real person:

    • Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
    • Helena Bonham Carter
    • Julia Louis-Dreyfus
    • Kristin Scott Thomas

    The same applies to first names. Consider:

    • Mary-Anne / Maryanne
    • John-Paul / John Paul

    Hyphens to indicate stuttering and spelling

    Finally, let’s talk about a use case for hyphens that often crops up in fiction. This is when you want to show your character stuttering, stammering or stumbling in their speech. You can use hyphens to illustrate their faltering dialogue by placing them between repeated sounds, like this:

    • ‘I-I-I didn’t s-s-see that, sir,’ he spluttered.
    • ‘Sh-sh-she said so!’

    Note that you don’t need to repeat the capital in a stuttered sound at the beginning of a sentence, unless that sound is from a proper noun:

    • ‘G-G-Grandma isn’t here.’

    There are a few ways to indicate faltering speech, including using ellipses and dashes, but if you specifically want to show a stammering or stuttering sound, hyphens used in this way is a good option.

    You can also use hyphens to indicate a word that is spelled out: 

    • ‘It’s Anne with an E. A-N-N-E.’

    Common hyphen mistakes

    The most common hyphen usage mistakes I see in fiction and non-fiction manuscripts:

    • – Hyphenating adverbs ending in -ly in compound modifiers
    • – Failing to hyphenate compound modifiers before a noun.

    If you learn nothing else, getting a handle on these will save you time and stress at your writing desk!

    If you have more questions about hyphens, drop me a line! And if you’d like help wrangling punctuation, get in touch with me to chat about a copyedit for your project. I offer a free sample edit so you can see exactly how copyediting will enhance your storytelling and clarify your message.

  • Editing, How-to, Uncategorized

    5 ways to improve your manuscript

    Good news! These tips don’t involve any writing.

    Feeling a bit of writer’s block? Don’t worry, there are lots of ways to improve your manuscript without having to labour over sentences and story arc.

    Here are five ways to give your work-in-progress a lift, without lifting your word count.

    1. Brush up formatting

    Go through your manuscript and make sure each chapter is set on a new page (use a page break instead of hitting that return button), chapters are numbered in order, and you’ve used an easy-to-read font like Times New Roman 12 pt, with double or 1.5 line spacing.

    This will instantly improve your manuscript by giving it a more consistent and professional appearance, and save you time later when you’re getting it ready to submit to publishers or agents.

    2. Check regional spelling

    Did you know there are lots of variations of English? Depending on your target audience, you can choose the one your readers will be most familiar with. If you’re publishing in Australia, use Australian English. This means you’ll be following the Macquarie Dictionary for spelling variations. If you’re aiming for the US market, go with US English – the Merriam-Webster is a great resource (and it’s free!). For British readers, use UK English and the Oxford Dictionary.

    Choosing a regional English language helps you to maintain consistency across your manuscript. It ensures you catch words that are spelled differently in different countries – like curb and kerb, cosy and cozy – and it will guide you on regional terms such as trash can or garbage bin, sidewalk or pavement, lollies or candy, cell phone or mobile phone – the list goes on.

    3. Look at consistency

    I can’t emphasise enough how important consistency is in making a finished manuscript look professional! As the author, you get to make a lot of decisions about the words you want to use and your preferred spelling variations to ensure consistency. Run searches for words that can be spelled differently, such as OK vs okay, and choose one to use throughout. You should also check whether you’ve used punctuation such as quote marks (single or double) and dashes (en or em) consistently throughout.

    Note: in Australia, we tend to use single quote marks with nested doubles, eg: ’Hey, did you hear that song, “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter?’ The US tends to reverse this: double quotes with nested singles, eg: “No, I much prefer Dua Lipa‘s new song, ’Illusion’.

    Consistency affects loads of elements: You can also make a note of how you’ll use numbers (as a basic starting point, we often see numbers one to ninety-nine spelled out and 100+ as numerals in books), show time (words or figures), address capitalisation in headings, punctuate abbreviations and more.

    And of course, it affects aspects such as character features and setting details as well. Taking note of whether your main character has blue eyes and always wears rose-scented perfume will ensure you don’t confuse readers by mixing up those foundational details later in the story.

    4. Review character names

    Do any of your characters have similar sounding names? If you have two characters with names that look and sound alike – Dave and Dan or Lisa and Liz, for instance – it’s a good idea to change one of them, to ensure readers don’t get confused about who’s doing what. This applies to minor characters too!

    Even if you don’t think your characters’ names are similar, they can appear that way on the page to a reader who’s skimming over a paragraph. So even sharing the same initial can be enough to warrant changing a character name.

    While you’re there, keep an eye out for characters’ names that have changed during the course of the novel. This happens more often than you might think!

    5. Weed out repetition

    Do you already know which words you have a tendency to use in every second sentence? If so, do a search and see how many instances you can remove to ensure they don’t become repetitive. This applies to elements such as speech tags and action beats, too. You might find you’re often making your characters fiddle with their hair or exclaim loudly!

    If you haven’t yet twigged to your crutch words, start by searching for adverbs: really, very, finally, actually and completely are common, and most of the time you don’t need them. Take a look and see how many you can weed out! It’ll make your writing so much stronger.

    Don’t feel bad that you’ve developed a writing crutch – it’s natural to reach for the same words over and over, especially when working on a full-length novel. Looking out for them so you can change it up is all part of the editing process – and it’s a powerful way to improve your manuscript.

    Want some help maintaining consistency in your work? Reach out about line and copyediting. I’ll look out for all these aspects and more, and will record all decisions in a style sheet so you can keep track of your preferences throughout the publishing process.

  • How-to

    Who’s talking? Finding the right point-of-view character for your scene

    If you’re not sure which character should have the mic at pivotal moments in your multi-POV novel, try asking yourself this question…

    Hands up if you’re writing a dual or multi-POV novel? It’s a really popular format for commercial fiction, and it offers loads of benefits for authors: you can give the reader deeper insight into your characters and give yourself greater scope to reveal plot points. But one stumbling block you might come across along the way is working out which character should be telling the story in critical scenes.

    It can be a tricky decision to make, especially when you have two (or more) protagonists whose growth and journey is equally important to the overall narrative arc and the themes you’re expressing. That means it’s likely that the major events of your novel will be important for all characters! So, who should get to tell the story in those moments?

    All of them! I hear you cry. While that might work for you creatively, it’s not always a great outcome for the reader – seeing the same moment from multiple perspectives can be a little tedious. Instead, if you do want to have more than one character’s experience of a particular plot point on the page, it’s a good idea to show the big moment from one perspective and then let another character pick up just after the incident occurs, to keep the story moving forward.

    So, how do you find the most powerful POV?

    Here’s what I recommend: Choose the character who has the most at stake.

    Ask yourself, who has the most to lose (or gain) from this pivotal plot point? It’s their reactions and emotions as they face this hurdle that will give you the most to play with – and that will resonate most strongly with your reader.

    Look closer

    Maybe you didn’t think too hard about which character told which part of the story when writing your first draft. You got into a rhythm and switched POV at each chapter, or got comfy staying in one voice for a few chapters at a time. That’s fine – it’s great to just get the words on the page. When you’re doing your first edits, however, keep POV in the back of your mind as you assess your story’s pace and dramatic impact.

    If you feel that the critical points of your novel are falling flat and failing to hit the emotional stride you were aiming for, check the POV. Is the character with the most to lose telling the story in that scene? Or is it another who has less at stake, and is acting more as an observer? Try rewriting the scene through another character’s eyes to see if that helps raise the drama and tension.

    Equal opportunity

    Maybe the scene has equally high stakes for all of your POV characters – for instance, if you’re writing a dual-POV romance, both protagonists might be equally affected by a conflict that arises in their blossoming relationship; in a mystery novel, more than one character could easily be impacted by an important clue coming to light. In that case, think about who these characters are and how they respond to significant events. Would they appear calm in the face of crisis but fall apart internally? Do they wear their emotions on their sleeve? Are they trying so hard to keep everything together that they’re at the point of breaking? Of these, which character would give you the most to play with, emotionally speaking? Which character’s reaction style best reflects the themes of your novel? And how would their reactions – both internal and external – appear on the page?

    There’s no right or wrong answer here but considering these factors as you refine and polish your story can help you play around with the dramatic tension in your work – and lead to a more impactful experience for your reader.

    If you’d like support wrangling your multi-POV novel, I can help! Get in touch to chat about structural editing or manuscript assessments.

  • How-to, Uncategorized

    How to format text messages in fiction

    A woman standing in front of a window looks at her phone screen as though reading a text message.

    An easy guide to depicting dialogue as text messages in a contemporary fiction novel.

    Text messages are a part of everyday life so if you’re writing contemporary fiction there’s a good chance you’ll want to include a few in your story. But how do you format them? Should you use quote marks? Do you need to indicate the sender with a name or dialogue tag? What about emojis?! 🤪

    There are a few options for fiction writers to choose from. Let’s take a look.

    Keep it simple with italics

    You could use quote marks, but because readers are so used to seeing quote marks with speech, it’s clearer to illustrate texts with some other kind of formatting.

    The most straightforward way to show text messages in fiction is with italics, which are usually used to indicate any dialogue that isn’t spoken aloud.

    You can add a dialogue tag or action beat to clarify who’s sending the text, as you would if they were speaking. For example:

    Hey, I just pulled up, Trent texted.

    Be there in a minute! I typed back.

    Choose a different font

    If your characters are spending a lot of time communicating this way, you might want to use a clear visual cue to indicate a text message convo. Select a different font (a sans serif font helps to distinguish it from the rest of the copy while giving a nod to tech formatting) and set it off with indents. For example:

    tile showing text messages formatted with a different font and indents.

    Use formatting to indicate sent and received texts

    Think about how messages are displayed on your phone. The ones you send are aligned right and the ones you receive are aligned left. Some authors are choosing to replicate this format in their works, even placing them inside speech bubbles with dates and times for an authentic look. In this style, you might want to use names to indicate speakers, as you would in a play. For example:

    A tile showing two text messages aligned left and right

    Some authors – particularly young adult authors – might even like to work with a designer or illustrator to create a graphic treatment for texts.

    How to choose?

    Your choice of style to use will depend on a number of factors, including readability and budget.

    Some questions to ask yourself include:

    • Do you have long strings of text exchanges between characters?
    • Will you ever have more than two people in a text chat?
    • If you’re using names to discern who is sending the texts, how do you imagine them being read in an audio version?
    • What age group are you writing for?
    • Are you working with a designer/typesetter who can create a special design treatment for texts?
    • Is space an issue?
    • What’s your personal preference when reading this type of dialogue in fiction?

    If you’re only using the odd text here and there, italics might be all you need. But if text messages are a critical part of your characters’ dialogue, consider using a special treatment, even if it’s just a different font.

    You might like to try out a few different styles and see how they fit, and when you decide on one, ask your beta readers to give feedback on whether your treatment of text messages is clear and enjoyable to read.

    What about emojis?

    I love a smiley/winky/smirky face as much as the next millennial, but there are caveats to using these guys. Like fonts, emojis (that is, the little pictures, not the ones created with letters) are subject to copyright, so if you’re self-publishing, make sure to buy a licence or find a free version for your work. Also bear in mind that they won’t appear in colour in your printed book, which may lessen their visual appeal and impact.

    Another thing to consider is the possibility that they will date your book. Emojis are popular now but they may be considered cringe in a few years’ time, or their meaning could shift. It’s something to keep in mind if you’re concerned about your work’s longevity in the market.

    The verdict

    As long as you’re making text messages and who’s sending them clear to your reader, there’s no real right or wrong here. I lean towards using a different font or italics to indicate text messages in fiction and weaving in some dialogue tags and action beats to keep readers on top of who’s texting at all times. If you’re working with a copy editor, you can ask them if they can set up a special style in Word for text messages when working on your book to ensure you achieve both consistency and clarity. This will ensure they’re typeset differently to the rest of your text too.

    Ultimately, I love seeing creative ways of depicting technology in fiction and I’m excited to see how this evolves on the page. Futuristic novels that use not-yet-created technology? Even more fun!

    Want help formatting your book’s text messages? Get in touch for a sample edit.

  • Editing, How-to

    Introducing the vocative comma

    This tiny piece of punctuation saves lives.

    One of the best things about punctuation is that when it’s used correctly it’s invisible in plain sight. It’s like driving a road you know so well that you get home without recalling the journey.

    But when it’s misused? Those misplaced commas, semicolons and dashes can be jarring!

    The vocative comma, however, is often completely invisible. That is, writers tend to leave it out of their sentences altogether. This can have disastrous implications for your characters!

    Allow me to explain. 

    What is a vocative expression? 

    Honey, sweetheart, darling, love – your pet names for your loved ones can be a vocative; so too their actual names. Any word you use to address someone directly is a vocative (also known as a vocative expression), whether it’s kind, disrespectful or neutral. Mate, sir, madam, prime minister … the list is endless! It’s how you use it that matters.

    For instance, in the sentence, “Hey, you!”, you is the vocative expression because that’s the word used as a direct address.

    Although you might not hear it in your speech, a comma is needed with a vocative expression in writing. In fact, it’s an incredibly powerful piece of punctuation.

    Consider the difference between these sentences: 

    “Shoot Pete,” the policeman cried. 

    “Shoot, Pete,” the policeman cried. 

    In the first example, without the vocative comma, Pete’s life is in grave danger! In the second, a vocative comma saves his life, showing us that the policeman is, in fact, directing Pete to shoot someone or something. 

    Similarly, the below sentence can take your story in a wild direction without a vocative comma: 

    “Eat children!” the woman urged. 

    Unless your story is exploring cannibalism, you’re going to need a comma with that: 

    “Eat, children!” the woman urged. 

    The comma makes it clear that the woman wants to feed the children, not feed on them.

    At its simplest, the vocative comma offers instant clarity. For example:

    “I don’t know Alison,” said Judy.

    has a completely different meaning to:

    “I don’t know, Alison,” said Judy.

    How to use the vocative comma

    Where you place the vocative comma depends on where the vocative expression lands in the sentence. 

    If the vocative expression starts the sentence, you need a comma after it (the vocative and its comma are in bold): 

    “Kate, bring me that file,” Alice ordered. 

    “Simone, is that your new bike?” Fred asked.

    If the vocative expression arrives at the end of the sentence, use the comma before the vocative. 

    “Give me my bag, you thief,” Ann said.

    “Where did you get that cool shirt, bro?” James asked.

    If the vocative expression is placed in the middle of the sentence, it needs commas before and after it. 

    “Well, Pete, you shouldn’t have fired that gun,” the policeman said.

    “Hello, darling, would you like a cup of tea?” Jenni offered.

    When does a vocative expression not need a comma?

    You don’t need a comma when the vocative expression is standing alone. Instead, you need a full stop, an exclamation mark, or a question mark. Here are some examples. 

    “Pete! The policeman told you to shoot!” cried Mark. 

    “Darling? Are you there?” Jenni called. 

    “You thief. Bring me that bag,” Anna snapped.

    Embracing the vocative comma

    It can be easy to miss this one when you’re in the flow of writing, and in many cases most people will understand what you mean when you fail to add a vocative comma. It’s not actually life or death!

    But, using the vocative comma is a good habit to get into. Firstly, using punctuation correctly makes for clearer sentences and a seamless experience for your reader, allowing them to fully immerse in your world. And secondly, if you’re working with an editor, getting these little details right will save them time and you money.

    So, keep the vocative comma in mind when you’re polishing your manuscript – and see if you save any lives while you’re at it.

  • Editing, How-to, Writing

    No words ever wasted: Why writing to rewrite isn’t a waste of time

    Worried that all that writing you’re doing might eventually end up in the bin? Here’s why your words are never wasted, even if they don’t make the final cut.

    Tension square. 

    These two words, without fail, elicit a groan in me every time I see them at the top of a knitting pattern. 

    If you’ve ever been seduced by a silky skein of wool, you’ll no doubt be familiar with the concept of tension squares. They ask the knitter to make a small test square using the yarn and needles required for the pattern to check their tension – that is, how tight or loose they naturally knit. If you have more stitches per centimetre than the pattern indicates, you need to loosen your knitting. If you have fewer, you need to tighten up. 

    It’s a quality-control process that good crafters understand and follow, knowing that if their tension is off they won’t wind up with a well-made garment in the end. It will look shrunken and silly, or hang limp and uneven. Taking the time to check their tension at the start can insure them against a disappointing finish. 

    Unfortunately, I’m not one of those crafters. 

    To me, tension squares have always felt like a waste of time. I’m excited to start the project and I want the finished product yesterday. 

    That’s fine if I’m making something like a scarf or a beanie. But for a garment? Well, let’s just say I’ve never made a jumper I’d wear in public. 

    Patience makes perfect

    My refusal to sit with the tedium of knitting tension squares has always held me back from achieving my goal of making a beautiful jumper, cardigan or vest. I’m simply too impatient to be a great crafter.

    I think the same can apply to the craft of writing. 

    I know a lot of writers worry about the possibility that they’re putting in loads of writing time and effort only to have to abandon great swathes of copy at some distant point in the future. They think:

    • What if an editor suggests cutting a whole section of the book? 
    • What if a publisher insists on changing the point of view or adding a new character? 
    • What if I wake up one day and decide the plot is all wrong, the main character sucks and I hate the ending? 

    Writing a book is a lot like knitting in that it’s a skill that takes a lot of practice – and even more patience. 

    You’ll start off excited to work on your idea and see where it ends up, but it’s slow and painstaking work. You might drop a stitch and have to work backwards to fix the hole. And at some point in the process, you might find yourself pulling on a loose thread and unravelling the whole damn thing down to nothing. 

    So, is it a waste if you had to pull out your work and start from scratch? Well, maybe, but only if you think you have nothing to learn. 

    Yes, it hurts to cut chapters you spent hours putting down or to give up on a character you once loved. But those early drafts weren’t wasted. The process of writing them taught you about structure, narrative arcs, characterisation, dialogue, showing vs telling, deep point of view. They might even inspire new stories further down the track. 

    What about writing exercises? Like tension squares, practices such as interviewing your characters, writing a detailed backstory or testing out a different narrative tense might feel like a distraction from the main game – finishing your novel – but they’re not as pointless as they can seem. 

    Sure, they’re time consuming and they might not ever make it to the published page. But are they a waste? No. They’re an opportunity to work on your craft and expand your skills. A quality-control process to ensure that the finished product is polished, engaging, and definitely worth showing off in public. 

    Five ways to reframe your rewrite

    If you’re struggling to let go of some of your darlings or worried that you’re wasting your words, try these tips: 

    • Create a safety net: Put any cut material into a separate word file and save it. You might come back to it later, you might not. Tell yourself it’s still valued material by keeping it on file. 
    • Set a time limit for your writing practice. If you’ve been staring at your screen for 15 minutes and feel like the words aren’t flowing, don’t force it – you’re unlikely to love the work you create in this mood. Put your laptop away and come back to it later when you’re in a more creative mindset. 
    • Try writing just for fun, sometimes. Don’t pressure yourself to create something amazing or reach a certain stage in your novel every time you sit down to write. Practise writing for the joy of it – try writing some flash fiction, pen a poem or just free-journal your thoughts.  
    • Make a plan for your rewrite. Don’t just dive in – go through your manuscript with a critical eye and pinpoint what areas need work, then follow through systematically. Not sure where to start? An editor can give you sensitive, professional feedback on your story and a plan for how to strengthen its weak points. Check out my structural editing service here.
    • Accept that rewriting is part of the process, no matter how far along you are in your writing journey. Even the best, most accomplished authors write multiple drafts of their novels. As Anne Lamott says, “Almost all writing begins with terrible first efforts.”