by Alycia W. Morales @AlyciaMorales

Have you taken yourself back to school with your self-editing methods? I often work with new writers who want to take their manuscripts to the next level, hoping to ace that query for an agent or catch that editor’s eye at the publishing house. And whether I am working on my own manuscripts or a client’s, there are a few things I make sure I search for before finishing up my edits.

Here are 21 things that genius writers search for in their manuscripts (and you should too):

1. Repetition of words within sentences and paragraphs.
2. Repetition of words throughout the manuscript, also known as your “pet words.”
3. Use of the same verb multiple times, such as smile, frown, laugh, cry, walk, etc.
4. Use of the same emotions over and over again. Mix it up a bit. Let your character grow.
5. Overuse of adverbs.
6. Overuse of starting a sentence with and, but, or so. (There are others.)
7. “Extra” words, such as just, very, that, and of.
8. Too many adjectives in a row.
9. Begins or starts to do something. If they started, they’re doing it. Let them do the thing.
10. Feel or made. These are telling emotion words. Show instead of tell.
11. Caused or made. These imply telling instead of showing what happened.
12. Saw or heard. Again, telling instead of showing what the character is experiencing.
13. Double spaces between sentences. Search and replace with one space.
14. Ellipses and em dashes. Try not to use these. Or do so sparingly.
15. ALL CAPS. Don’t use them.
16. Exclamation points. Only use one. If you really need it.
17. Semicolons. It’s better to stop and start sentences with a period and capital letter. If you must use a semicolon, know and understand how to do so and why you’re doing so.
18. Quotation marks. Are they closed?
19. Did you end questions with a question mark?
20. Homonyms. Have you used the correct spelling of there, their, or they’re?
21. Make sure all character names that were changed have been updated.

It doesn’t take more than an hour to make sure that you are providing your prospective editor or agent with a clean manuscript, which makes you look:

1. Professional
2. Like you care about your story/words
3. Like you really do want to be a genius writer

PS – You should totally do this before working with a freelance editor too.

Will you be taking your self-editing back to school this month? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Alycia Morales is a freelance editor and writer. Her writing has been in Thriving Family magazine, Splickety Love, and several compilation books. Her editing clients have won several awards for their manuscripts, including finalist in the Selah Award. Alycia has ghostwritten The Spirit of Hospitality by Larry Stuart and continues to ghostwrite for others. She is currently working on two novels, a YA and a romantic suspense.

She is the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference assistant to Director Edie Melson.

Follow Alycia at her blogs, Life.Inspired. and The Write Editing. She can also be found on Instagram and Pinterest.

Alycia’s Twitter: @AlyciaMorales

When she isn’t busy writing, editing, and reading, Alycia enjoys spending time with her husband and four children taking hikes in Upstate SC and NC, creating various crafts, coloring in adult coloring books, and watching crime shows.