QA Forum

Question & Answer

We are discussing Writing your story
With Jackie French, Tehani Wessely, Virginia Tressider

Question:
I’ve finished my story but I’m not completely happy with it. What do you recommend?

Answer:
Tehani - There are two things I suggest every author does after completing a piece.

1. Put it away for a while. The longer the better. The more distance you can get from the manuscript the better, because it allows you to come back to it with a fresh (and hopefully more critical) eye.

2. Read it out loud. When you think you’ve done editing, you’ve finished all the chopping and changing, and you’re happy with the piece, read it aloud, or have someone read it to you. You’ll be amazed at the errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation and general “wrongness” an out loud read through will pick up, even from a polished piece.

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