Edit and Review's Top AUTHOR TIPS

Don't just write something because you think it will sell. Write about something you enjoy. Write something that excites you to keep writing. You will enjoy it more, and your reader will too.

Read and study well-established authors. I would recommend focusing on your chosen genre. However, don’t ignore other genres. Being well-read will only help you to create a vivid and engaging story.

Before you begin to write your novel, establish some rules for yourself. If you are world-building, draw yourself a rough map. Establish the rules for your society. You need to know enough to make sense to the reader, but you don't need to know everything.

Trust your audience to follow along and figure things out. You don't need to go to great lengths to explain things. In fact, it can be better not to explain something rather than give an improbable or even impossible explanation.

What motivates your main characters? Take notes about your character traits and descriptions. This will give you some reference points and help you from contradicting yourself as you are writing. 

When a character has limitations, we need to see a natural progression of the character either overcoming these limitations or learning how to navigate and adapt to them. This growth is compelling for the reader.

Try to use different character names in your book. The names should be visually and audibly distinct. This helps the reader so that they are not confused. Audiobooks make this even more important. What may be more understandable visually may not be so understandable aurally.

If you give one of your characters a special talent or ability, let the reader see it in action. It is more memorable to incorporate it into a scene rather than stating it as prose.                                              

If you are writing a series and you introduce scenes with characters from one of your previous books, let us know how those characters are doing. Give us any updates on new developments or continuing developments that began in the previous book. 

• TIP: Read the sentence aloud to see where you would naturally pause. Anywhere you pause or take a breath, you will most likely need a comma.
• TIP: If you can move the introductory phrase in a sentence to the end of the sentence, the comma is properly placed.
• Example: The comma is properly placed if you can move the introductory phrase in a sentence to the end of the sentence.

Whether you need a quick proofread or a comprehensive edit, Edit and Review's editing services will help you polish your writing and ensure that it's ready for publication. Let's work together!