Manuscript Repair & Rewrite #11

In this 11-minute video, I overhaul the first page of a nonfiction piece, showing exactly what I’d do were it mine—and explaining every suggested change.

If this is your first Manuscript Repair & Rewrite, the intensity of the process may shock you.

But you’ll soon start picking up on the techniques crucial to making your writing crisp, clear, and compelling. My goal is to help turn rejections into sales.

Even if you’re busy today, I hope you can carve out 11 minutes for this. You’ll be glad you did—and there’s plenty here that applies to fiction writers too.

You’ll learn:

• How to recognize and omit needless words
• Why hedging takes the steam out of your writing and how to spot it
• How the dreaded language of writtenese crept into this manuscript—and what to do about it
• To spot the 1+1=1/2 principle: the problem with multiple adjectives
• The power of a come-alongside tone
• And more!

Many Guild members tell me these hands-on manuscript rewrite sessions are the most enlightening part of their training.

Some say they’ve learned to fix their own flawed manuscripts overnight.

If you’re tired of those “doesn’t meet a current need” responses from publishers, here you’ll see game-changing principles that can turn those into “yeses.”

After downloading the documents below, click the bar on the left to see the edits.