3 Editing Tips to Strengthen Your Manuscript

I recently completed the final touches on a YA Supernatural novel. In the process I met with the local writer-in-residence, where I learned three great tips to add to my editing list. As you will see, my references are for 1st person POV, but you can easily change them to apply to the others. 1. Search and eliminate all "I see..." "I hear..." "I feel..." etc. These remove the reader from the moment. 2. Search all "and then" and decide which "one" of them applies and delete the other. In the odd sentence I kept the combo, but you will see that both are rarely needed together. 3. Search all "ly" words and you will be surprised how many needless adverbs you have. For instance: she said sarcastically...she mimicked. There are better words in the English language to replace adverbs with -- start learning them! Hours later my mss became 100+ words lighter. Now, back to the drawing board to try to get from 55,000 words, up to 60,000 words for my publisher!