I spent a few hours last week reading Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. I kept seeing it at the bookstore, kept debating buying it. I picked it up and thumbed through it a few times, thinking it looked pretty good. For whatever reason, though, I just couldn’t make myself pick it up.
Then I read somebody else’s review of it. The very next day, I tried to pick it up, but there wasn’t a copy available. It took a couple of trips to two different bookstores to finally find it, but I’m so glad I did. My copy, roughly a week old, has post-it flags sticking out of it and writing in the margins. I’m already using it, and I’ve recommended it to a couple of people.
Yes, it’s that good. It’s an engaging look at the various components of producing good fiction: voice, characters, narrative, dialogue and monologue, action. I’ve already started applying it to both my own writing and to chapters I’m editing for others, with positive results!
I’d highly recommend picking up a copy and marking it up for yourself. It’s well worth the time and effort!
