11 Self-Editing Tips

You’ve finished your first draft – now what?

Time to hire an editor? To panic over your query letter? Or maybe you just want to hit ‘publish’?

If you said yes to any of these... hold your horses. Before starting your query letter, let alone publishing your book, you want to polish your manuscript. Also, you don’t want to hire an editor just yet to make your rough draft look presentable. You want your story to go from great to its full potential.

Let me share eleven self-editing tips to improve your revision process.

The very first thing you should do after completing your first draft is...

01 Celebrate

Take a moment to appreciate your hard work. Treat yourself to a meal out, celebrate with family and friends. Even just taking a moment to bask in your accomplishment will do. You deserve it!

Writing is a challenging and often intimate process, especially in romance and erotica. You’re putting yourself out there – or at least, you’re preparing to. That takes a tremendous amount of courage. I truly admire every author for this. What you’re doing is incredible.

02 Give Your Manuscript Time to Breathe

Yes, you read that correctly. Allow both yourself and your story to rest. It’s an important step that’s often overlooked.

If you dive straight into revisions after finishing your first draft, you’ll be too close to the story. Your vision of the book will be clouded by what’s in your head, not what’s actually on the page. You’ll miss a lot.

I suggest setting your manuscript aside for a minimum of four weeks – or at least as long as possible. Don’t worry, you can still be creative! Start a new project or revisit another one of your WIPs.

After a few weeks, you’ll be able to approach your manuscript with a fresh set of eyes.

03 Look at the Big Picture First

There’s no point in losing yourself in the nitty-gritty, only to realise later you’ll have to trim or cut a scene because it doesn’t belong in the book.

After each scene and chapter, ask yourself whether it drives the plot forward or merely acts as filler content. Pay special attention to your first page. You need to grab your readers immediately. Don’t start with the mundane or fall into cliché openers (dreams, waking up, or the weather, just to name a few).

Also, no exposition dumps, please! Even if you write romantic fantasy, fantasy romance or romantasy, your readers can only take so much world-building at the very start. Instead, try weaving it into the plot as it unfolds.

04 Check In With Your Characters

Your characters should feel authentic and consistent throughout your story. Ask yourself the following questions to ensure they’re behaving in ways that make sense within the context of your story:

Are they evolving over time? Characters should grow and change in response to the events in your story.

Have you portrayed them consistently? Your characters’ responses need to align with who they are. Their goals shouldn’t change suddenly – at least not without clear reason.

Are they interesting, with layers for your readers to unpack, or are they merely stereotypes? Adding flaws or vulnerabilities can add complexity to their character and interactions.

When you write about your character’s emotions, are you inside their head, or are you stating facts? Being ‘inside their head’ means portraying the emotional nuance they experience, not just labelling their feelings (show vs tell). For example, your FMC isn’t just scared – her pulse races, or she feels her chest tighten.

If you’re writing dual POV, double-check that you’ve chosen the right perspective for maximum emotional impact – for your characters and your readers! You don’t have to alternate their POVs every chapter.

05 Save Deleted Scenes in a Separate Document

Just because some scenes don’t contribute to the current story doesn’t mean your writing is bad or should be forgotten. Heck, save even a single line of dialogue if it captures a specific mood that doesn’t quite fit the story or characters at the moment. You never know when you might use it in a different project!

Or maybe it’s the perfect bonus content for your social media, newsletter, or a special edition of your book.

While removing a scene (or even entire characters!) may feel like a loss, it’s actually a great opportunity to improve your story’s flow and focus. And since you’re saving everything in a separate document, nothing is truly lost!

06 Refine Intimate Moments

Do both characters equally express their enjoyment, or is the balance a bit off? A strong, well-rounded scene should give readers a sense of both characters’ actions and reactions, not just the experience of the one whose POV you’re writing from. This helps create a richer, more balanced dynamic between your characters.

And remember: Intimacy isn’t a synonym for sex. It can be so much more.

A lingering glance, a soft touch, moments of vulnerability – these all deepen the connection between your characters and make a scene feel more authentic. Romance readers crave that emotional depth. Don’t be afraid to let those moments shine!

07 Let Your Readers Fill In the Gaps

Don’t overwrite. Only describe what matters, and let your readers do the rest. It can happen so quickly because you can see the scene unfold in your mind and want to bring it to the page.

I’ll show you what I mean:

He stepped closer, lifted his hand, brushed her cheek with his fingertips, and let his thumb linger at the corner of her jaw for a moment too long.

This is clear, but it’s overly detailed, almost like stage directions. While the intention is to show intimacy, it can feel a little flat and mechanical because it spells everything out. If every scene is written this way, it can create a jarring experience for your readers.

Maybe consider something along the lines of this:

He stepped closer, his thumb brushing her cheek – lingering just a moment too long.

By cutting out the excess detail, you allow your readers to feel the moment without being told exactly what to imagine. The tension between the characters is amplified, and the scene becomes far more intimate and charged. Sometimes, less is more.

08 Strengthen Your Voice

When describing your characters or what they're feeling, ask yourself: Does the word I’ve chosen carry the intensity I want to convey, or am I relying on adverbs and adverbial phrases to bring my point across?

Is your character very hungry, or are they ravenous, starving, famished? Are they running fast, or are they racing about? The same applies to emotions. Does your character feel incredibly sad, or are they devastated, heartbroken, crushed?

Each choice carries a different weight and meaning.

As always: you don’t have to delete every single adverb – sometimes they’re exactly what you need for a specific moment. But be aware of them. Use them with purpose. Using stronger words will elevate your writing, create sharper imagery, and keep your readers hooked.

09 She Let Out a Breath She Didn’t Realise She Was Holding

It’s been overused – especially in romance (though it pops up in other genres, too). In my experience, there are two types of romance readers: those who roll their eyes, and those who giggle and kick their feet because they found the line in yet another book.

Either way, your reader is pulled out of the story, even if you include it as a little inside joke. Ask yourself if that’s the effect you want.

If it is, consider going the extra mile. Make it funny and self-aware. Show off your creativity and sense of humour. If you’d rather avoid it, think of a different way to express the same feeling. A slow exhale after an intense scene can convey the same sentiment without falling into clichés.

10 Switch to a Different Medium

You’ve stared at your screen for hours – it’s time to change the scenery. Print your manuscript, or send it as a PDF to your ebook reader. Read aloud. If a sentence trips you up, it probably needs fixing.

If printing isn’t an option, or you don’t have an ebook reader, try changing the font, the font size, or even the margins. Anything that makes your text look different from what you’ve seen for the past few weeks. Trust me, you’ll spot things you hadn’t noticed before.

11 Know When To Stop

When you’re at the point where you’re obsessing over commas and second-guessing every choice, it’s time to step back. Let someone else take a look and offer feedback.

That someone could be an editor – maybe me!

I offer manuscript assessments, critiques and full developmental editing for big-picture feedback, as well as line and copy-editing, proof-editing, and proofreading for sentence-level issues.

Let’s refine your story together.