Sally sat down at the table, handing me a Christmas tin.  “Merry Christmas.”

I opened it.  Inside lay petite, decorated Gingerbread men and women, their faces, aprons and overalls intricately decorated. “Wow.”

“It’s my one Christmas claim to fame.  I sell them at the annual craft show.”

They looked too good to eat.  “You put me to shame. My talents end with chocolate chip cookies. Although, my children love them.”  I put the lid on the tin.  “You know, your cookie prowess is not unlike finding your voice, or wordsmithing your story. Which is the final step in editing your manuscript before you move to proofing.”

“I am nearly finished all my scene by scene edits.”

“Then you’re ready to make your story sing. It’s in the wordsmithing phase where an author’s voice really emerges…it’s in the delivery of the story on the page.  How do you groom your voice?  

First, you have to start with the Mechanics. Go through your grammar and hone your writing. Here’s a checklist:

1. Are there five senses in each scene?

2. Replace the adverbs with strong verbs, the adjectives with defined nouns. Cut all “ly” ending adverbs if possible.

3. Be ruthless with passive sentences. ”Was” and “were” are good clues to a passive sentence. Although sometimes you need a passive sentence to let the reader rest, most of your sentences should be active.

4. Repeating sentences – If two sentences say virtually the same thing, cut one.

5. Two adjectives together weaken both. Use the strongest one.

6. Read through your dialogue – Do you need tags? Do you have enough action between words? Do you repeat names? Do you need to delete tags to make it faster? Is there enough white space between chunks of dialogue? Body language? Fighting words?

7. Do you have a list of overused words? Do a word search and fix/delete those!

Now comes the fun part.  Turn your page landscape view, “select all” and make two columns. Change to single space. See how it looks like a printed book? I like to change the type style to Garamond or Bookman to really get the feel of reading a novel.

Take two days and simply read your story, feeling the words, how they nuance the emotion, how they lay on the page.  Look for the story beats – have you rushed a sentence or paragraph?  Or, are you repeating words, sentences, paragraphs, concepts? 

Using a read pen, take your time and edit the hard copy. Change words around, add new sentences…you are reading the book for the emotional effect if has on the reader. 

 In the back of your mind, do a final story check: 

• Scenes – Do your scenes pack a punch?  Do each of your scenes have a purpose? Do you need to make the slower scenes faster? Can you combine two slow scenes, cutting away the less important to the important?
• Action – Are there sufficient reasons for everything your character does in that scene? Have you planted the clues for that action or decision long before they do it?
• Likeable characters – Does your hero/heroine have great qualities that make you truly like them? Make sure that in each scene, there is something likeable about your character—that special spark that sets them apart.
• Surprise – Is the disappointment worthy of your character? Is it plausible and unexpected?

Then I look at the art.  Do the sentences sing to you?  Can my characters be a bit more creative in their dialogue?  Have you used my nouns and verbs in a powerful way?  Have you woven in symbolism.  Do you like it?  

Then, I fix it, proof it…pray over it, and it’s ready for readers!

Remember – the difference between rearranging words and editing is that editing adds emotion, texture, precision and mood to a scene.  Always ask: How has your wordsmithing made your scene more powerful?”

“I can’t believe I’ve almost finished a book in a year.”

“Sally, I’m so proud of you.  I can’t wait to read your story.  Next week, I’ll give you some hints on how to sell it.”

“Next week is Christmas Eve. You’re not going to make we work on Christmas Eve are you?”

I opened the tin and took out a gingerbread man.  I smiled and bit off his head.