There are a couple of good books on editing that I like:
Writing Tools by Clark, probably my favourite book on the technical side of writing
Brohaughâs Write Tight, okay, this one should be handled with care, because it is written in an opinionated jerk editorâs style, but it has most of what people would repeat on the Internet, plus it goes into the nitty-gritty of editing
Other than that, there are tried and true strategies that work for me:
English is not my native language, so my battle with past tenses and articles is on-going and will continue till they nail my coffin shut
Write and edit in short bits of text, about 1K words.
Move them between different software with different fonts and grammar checkers.
Once in a while run full Grammarly analysis on a small bit of text to just keep myself honest and make sure I am not trashing the text with passives and adverbs
Always look for the opportunity to make each sentence easier to read and substitute as many pronoun/name as subject of the sentence, and âto beâ as verb with something else. Check every adjective and adverb for âis it the best? Do I need it?â
Replace any word that looks too complicated with a simpler one, unless it is a word I need, and there is no better word in the whole world for it
Layer, layer, layer. Is there enough ambiance? Do the characters emote? Does a statement of action need an emotional sequel?