THE POLISHED MANUSCRIPT

How to Polish Your Manuscript for Publication

Congratulations! You’ve completed your manuscript—a feat that required dedication, creativity, and countless hours of work. Now comes the crucial step of refining your work to meet the high standards of publication or to submit to a literary agent for representation.

Polishing your manuscript is an essential process that ensures your writing is clear, compelling, and error-free. Here’s a comprehensive guide to help you get your manuscript in its best shape.

Take a Break

It may sound counter-intuitive, but if you’ve spent long hours with your novel, then chances are good you need to take a break. This is necessary for good reason.

When you’ve lived with a manuscript for a long time, the mistakes that are there are overlooked. They seem right and normal, and your eye may not be catching them all.

Taking a break helps your mind do a reset, and then you can look at the manuscript with fresh eyes, making it easier to spot errors and inconsistencies.

Review Structure and Flow

Most authors work with an outline. Now is the time to pull it back out and see how closely you ended up following it. Analyze it for a logical structure, transitions that are seamless, and that the storyline progresses in a coherent manner.

Are the chapter titles (if there are any) clear and reflective of the content? This can often expose areas where your manuscript is weak, because you forgot to include a whole segment that you outlined.

Enhance Clarity and Style

If this is your first work, then there’s every likelihood that your first chapters are your roughest chapters. This is because you were still developing your style, or voice. Taking the time to really make sure these early chapters shine is critically important because a publisher or agent will generally only read the first few chapters and a detailed synopsis. Here are the most important criteria to use in evaluating your manuscript:

• Active Voice: Use active voice whenever possible. It makes your writing more direct and livelier.
• Conciseness: Trim unnecessary words and redundant phrases. Every sentence should serve a purpose.
• Vary Sentence Structure: Use a mix of short and long sentences to keep the reader engaged. Avoid monotonous or repetitive patterns.
• Read Aloud: Reading your work aloud can help you catch awkward phrasing and unnatural dialogue.

Focus on Grammar and Punctuation

If you haven’t assembled a “dream team” of early readers for your book, this is the time to do it because having someone read it for grammar and punctuation will be a lifesaver.

While you can use grammar-checking tools, such as Grammarly, or Hemmingway, they are not fool-proof. You need someone to manually check the manuscript to catch common errors such as subject-verb agreement, tense consistency, and correct use of articles.

Also have this person check the punctuation of each sentence, as misplaced commas or incorrect apostrophes can change the meaning of a sentence.

Refine Your Voice and Tone

Now that you’ve finished your manuscript, it’s time to review it for consistency, both in the actions the characters take, and their story arc, but also to make sure each character has a distinct voice.

Is the tone you are using formal or informal? Do you maintain this tone throughout the novel? When your characters speak does it reflect their personality and background?

A good mental test for your characters is to pretend you are choosing actors and actresses to play in a movie based on your book. Who would you choose? Are those individuals represented in the dialogue and actions of the characters you wrote? If not, use those selected actors as an example of who you want that character to be.

Seek Feedback

Remember that “dream team”? This is where they come into the process. Assemble a group of 5-7 people who are willing to read your manuscript, cover to cover, and give you feedback. Have each of them read for a different reason and give them direct guidance on what their role is. For example, you might structure your team like this:

• Person 1: Punctuation, grammar, and mechanics
• Person 2: Cheerleader. Tells you it’s the best thing since sliced cheese.
• Person 3: Read for inconsistencies in plotline, characters, and world building.
• Person 4: Is it a good story? Do you like the characters? Was there anything you didn’t understand?
• Person 5: Is it a good story? Do you like the characters? Was there anything you didn’t understand?
• Person 6: Is it a good story? Do you like the characters? Was there anything you didn’t understand?

Notice that 4-6 are identical. This is a good idea, since the essence of your novel is whether people like it, like the characters, understand the world you’ve built, and it makes sense to them. If more than one person points out something that was confusing, or missing, then chances are very good that you need to revise.

Professional Editing

If none of your friends are professional editors, or English teachers, then consider hiring a professional editor. They bring expertise in language, structure, and industry standards, ensuring your manuscript is polished to perfection.

You can locate a professional editor in many places online, including Indeed, Guru.com, Upworks, and even Fiverr.

Polishing your manuscript is a meticulous process, but it’s a crucial step towards publication success. By taking the time to refine your work, you enhance its readability, professionalism, and overall appeal. With a polished manuscript, you’re well on your way to capturing the attention of publishers, agents, and readers alike.