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On Editing: How to edit your novel the professional way (Teach Yourself Creative Writing) Kindle Edition

4.6 out of 5 stars (124)

"Highly recommended: On Editing is indispensable reading for anyone who is or wants to be a writer. Every desk should have a copy!"
- Dr Samantha J. Rayner, Director of the Centre for Publishing, UCL

"On Editing is a feast with many courses. When you have finished this book, you will feel encouraged, empowered, and indomitable. If you are writing-or editing-a novel, you could do no better than to have this book by your side. Comprehensive, easily digestible, it is a classic in the making."
- Shaye Areheart, Director of the Columbia Publishing Course


Writing a novel is a magical but often difficult journey; and when your first draft is complete, that journey's not over. As the editing process gets underway, authors often find themselves in unfamiliar territory. What does it mean to 'map your plot'? How do you know if you're 'head-hopping'? When is your novel ready to send out to agents, and how do you make each submission count?

Written by the team behind one of the world's most successful literary consultancies,
On Editing will show you how to master the self-edit. You will learn to compose, draft, and edit while sharpening your writing and ensuring that your novel is structurally sound, authentic, well-written, and ready for submission.

On Editing will help you harness your creative potential, transform the way you think about your writing, and revolutionise your editorial process.

"It's easy for writers to be overwhelmed by the technicalities of writing, editing and getting published, but Helen Corner-Bryant and Kathryn Price share their decades of experience nurturing writers in On Editing. They know all the problems and how to fix them - including many you might not even think of - and explain it all in a clean, jargon-free, way that demystifies the whole process, with infectious enthusiasm that will have you ready, eager and bursting with the confidence to take your writing to the next level."
- Writing Magazine

Product description

From the Back Cover

Self-editing is a vital part of the writer's toolkit; but authors often it find daunting and difficult. This book is the ultimate guide to help you simplify and demystify the editing process. Learn to:

- structure your plot
- refine your characters
- understand viewpoint choices
- pace your work effectively
- submit with confidence

Written by the team behind one of the world's most successful literary consultancies,
On Editing will help you master the self-edit. You will learn to analyse, edit and redraft, while sharpening your writing and ensuring that your novel is structurally sound, engaging, and ready for submission.

On Editing will show you how to harness your creative potential, transform the way you think about your writing, and revolutionise your editorial process.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07C2BXD5Q
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ John Murray
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ 17 May 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2.2 MB
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 293 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1473666696
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Part of series ‏ : ‎ Teach Yourself Creative Writing
  • Best Sellers Rank: 122,605 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
  • Customer reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars (124)

About the author

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Helen Corner-Bryant
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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
124 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find this editing book to be a valuable guide for novelists, with clear and helpful content that includes examples of good practice. The writing is accessible and easy to understand, with one customer noting how it improves writing style through dialogue examples. They appreciate its practical advice, with one describing it as "THE bible for editing fiction."
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18 customers mention advice, 18 positive, 0 negative
Customers find the book provides valuable guidance and is a very useful textbook for novelists, with one customer noting it includes many well-thought-out examples of good practice.
...one of those rare editing/how to books that tries to impart REAL, PRACTICAL advice....Read more
...This one sat well with me due to its authoritive tone, sensible advice and restraint in terms of what it promised.Read more
...taking a course run by the authors and this has been a very useful textbook....Read more
I highly recommend this book, it’s filled with lots of useful guidance and advice.Read more
12 customers mention information content, 11 positive, 1 negative
Customers find the book's content helpful, with clear examples that make technical points easy to understand. One customer notes it includes advice on the publication process.
...But I did see the point the authors were trying to make. All the examples were clear and easy to understand....Read more
This was a very thorough book detailing the specifics of fiction edition. There was a heavy focus on show don't tell....Read more
...It's easy to read, contains a wealth of information and even has rewrites of sample scenes, making it easy to understand the technical points...Read more
...There is lots of helpful information together with many well though out examples of good practice....Read more
8 customers mention writing quality, 7 positive, 1 negative
Customers appreciate the writing quality of the book, with individual reviews highlighting its clear presentation, helpful examples, and effective dialogue sections that improve writing style, while one customer notes it provides everything needed for a budding writer.
This is a clearly written book that guides the reader through all the stages that will make them a better writer....Read more
...It's going to make a big difference to the readability of my writing, especially once I start putting the ideas and techniques into practice....Read more
I am very pleased with this book. It has everything in it for the budding writer, from novice to professional....Read more
...chapters on planning and plotting and dialogue are particularly helpful in improving your writing style.Read more
7 customers mention readability, 7 positive, 0 negative
Customers find the book easy to read and understand.
...It's easy to read, contains a wealth of information and even has rewrites of sample scenes, making it easy to understand the technical points...Read more
...All the examples were clear and easy to understand....Read more
Clear, practical and targeted self-editing advice guide....Read more
...Written by professionals but in clear readable englishRead more
6 customers mention editing advice, 5 positive, 1 negative
Customers appreciate the editing advice in the book, with one describing it as the "bible for editing fiction."
On Editing is an invaluable resource. It’s a compact guide filled with a plethora of memorable analogies and explanations.Read more
...This book is one of those rare editing/how to books that tries to impart REAL, PRACTICAL advice....Read more
Clear, practical and targeted self-editing advice guide....Read more
Vital for anyone editing their novel...Read more

Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 May 2018
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    If you are, like me, a would-be author who's at the 'polishing' stage, this book is a must-have. It's easy to read, contains a wealth of information and even has rewrites of sample scenes, making it easy to understand the technical points writers need to consider. It affirmed that I'm doing a lot right and has highlighted things I haven't. I'm into another draft of my novel with this book at my side and five chapters in, the difference is amazing. I have tighter prose, dynamic dialogue and a lot more confidence. Excellent job Cornerstones! Thank you.
    8 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 April 2020
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I have been writing for decades and, in between novels, always take time to read books on writing/editing/submissions etc as I clearly still have a LOT to learn, and views are always changing. Most of those books (especially as I have read more and more of them) have proven to be disappointing. They roll out the same old cliches and glib advice without getting to the heart of any particular issue and with little practical advice offered to the reader. This book is one of those rare editing/how to books that tries to impart REAL, PRACTICAL advice. I particularly found helpful the use of examples of different ways of writing the same passages to illustrate the point the authors were making. It also contains some advice that I haven't seen in any of the other 30-50 books I have read on this topic (one example being taking care that your minor characters aren't TOO vividly drawn as to drown out the key players - I write fantasy books with large casts and have definitely fallen into that trap this time). I am between the second and third drafts of my latest novel and I know that reading this book will have been a huge help - I would even recommend it to people before beginning to write - it will save you a lot of pain in your later drafts...
    8 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 August 2020
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    ‘Whichever structure you’ve used, the main purpose of the final act or closing chapters is to resolve the threads of this plot, ensuring that the reader’s investment is paid off; that the central storyline is given space to be concluded satisfyingly.’

    This book was recommended to me in an editorial magazine review, and I thought it’d be nice to try it out and see if it was as interesting as it appeared. It turned out I was correct. Some of the comments on genre were excellent for broadening my mind and encouraging me to think ahead about reader expectations.

    On Editing asked me to analyse sections of writing, and explained why some were better for conveying show-not-tell practices as opposed to summaries or ‘telling’. In this sense I felt On Editing opened my eyes to practices I could look into correcting in my own writing, as well as others’.

    I didn’t agree with every example, in the point of view chapter, notably. But I did see the point the authors were trying to make. All the examples were clear and easy to understand. I’d recommend On Editing for writers who are new to self-editing, need to brush up on their self-editing skills, and for developmental editors who want to know how to approach some areas of writing.
    2 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 January 2026
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Great informative little book on a big subject that frightens many new writers. Absolutely brilliant examples and explanations
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 October 2018
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I bought a copy of this book after recently hearing a talk by the Author. There is lots of helpful information together with many well though out examples of good practice. How to plot, tighten things, keep the reader's interest until the end, etc. It's going to make a big difference to the readability of my writing, especially once I start putting the ideas and techniques into practice. Warmly recommended.
    2 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 June 2018
    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
    The Cornerstone Literary Consultancy’s (=CLC) book on how to edit is a long read in a market already crowded with ‘how to’ books designed to train the neophyte author (of which I’ve read a fair few). On Editing examines pretty much every aspect of what can go wrong with newcomers’ fiction and has many examples of before & after to show how faults can be recognised and solved. But I could not like this book and it puzzled me, because CLC has something of a reputation in Britain. And then it clicked for me, twice: (1) the authors, a pair of CLC veterans, have not written this non-fiction self-help book very well. It is possible that they ‘know too much’ and have committed a common fiction-writer’s sin: they have overwritten it and made it at the same time dull. Instruction books can be light, can use illustrations (my Kindle edition has nothing but print, italic print and bold print and indentations) but the format and layout of On Editing is a linear desert and chapters go on and on with no end in sight – the section(s) on Show Not Tell felt like hauling bricks up an endless slope.
    It seems to me self-evident that the editing of a book is a process and therefore On Editing could easily contain flow charts to simply lay out, well, the flow of processes and actions. I’d bet money that CLC uses flowcharts and methodologies, or else the editing of the many and varied types of books that come its way would mean bespoke work every time, bankrupting them or the writer.
    The irony is that the authors really should have hired an independent editor to shape their material unsentimentally into something briefer but more – much more – effective. Hodders are the publishers. Perhaps they were in awe.
    And (2) I was struck while reading over and again how hugely successful commercial fiction authors (take James Paterson for example – please! - or Lee Child, Dan Brown, CL James or Marian Keyes) commit so many of the long-list of CLC-identified sins of ‘bad writing’ but still manage to sell books by the truck load. Then I remembered a criticism of an economic policy in some country or other which was that ‘it worked in practice but not in theory.’ I think the CLC approach is to aim for a regulated version of its own ideas of perfection.
    Finally I wondered if On Editing is supposed to be a CLC calling card and a come-on to for authors to hire the firm to work with them to improve their books. If so On Editing is so very comprehensive I wonder if anyone will see the value in scraping up several hundred pounds when the book comes in at around a tenner?
    One cannot fault Cornerstone for their zeal. I just wish the delivery were lighter to digest and had flow charts, checklists and a glossary of terms, all wrapped up in fewer pages.
    19 people found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

  • Alexandra Galbraith
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very helpful book when it comes to editing.
    Reviewed in Germany on 14 July 2019
    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
    Can‘t wait to revise my book with what i‘ve learned and make it better.
    It whish this book would have bern translatet into german.
  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
    Reviewed in Canada on 11 January 2025
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Very helpful
  • Be the Plunk
    5.0 out of 5 stars Unique of Its Kind
    Reviewed in the United States on 5 November 2022
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I've read more writing books than I can count. Most are written by folks who have published with some success; others are written by folks who promote themselves as writing teachers. This book is unique for being written by editors whose experience is with prepping an author's work for submission to agents and publishers. It's direct, professional, generous and full of examples of better and worse writing. If you really want to work at a professional level, this book is cheap at the price.
  • aristae
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very Helpful Book
    Reviewed in the United States on 24 January 2021
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    So, I've finally finished this book after losing it in my closet-bookshelf for a year (oops!).
    My thoughts: I loved it! I took SO many notes! Literally. I mean, there are pages and pages of notes that I took in my Tardis journal. There are gobs of highlights and underlinings in my copy of the book. I recommend this book to anyone who is in the process of writing their book, editing a draft of their book, looking into the publication process or looking into becoming an editor.
    I'll probably be revisiting my copy for years to come. Such a wealth of information in this book!
  • V. Gordon
    5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book!
    Reviewed in Canada on 2 July 2024
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    This book has helped me understand the ins and outs of editing. I'm glad I bought it!

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