Expanded Revision Cheat Sheets
In 2015, I published a three-part series of blog posts that I called the Revision Cheat Sheets (you can still find them in my blog archives). They were designed to help writers self-edit their books at the structure, scene, and sentence levels. They were so popular over time that I made them available as downloadable PDFs, and this is where you could find them–until early 2019.
That’s when I realized that I could do better with the Revision Cheat Sheets. I took the content from all three original posts and edited it into a single guide, and then I went a step further. The Revision Cheat Sheets: Expanded now come with step-by-step explanations and checklists that go through the biggest weaknesses I see in client work in each level of editing, helping authors recognize and fix those issues in their own work.
If you’re interested in this guide, which now holds over 20 pages of help, I would be more than happy to send it to you! Get it for free when you subscribe to my weekly newsletter at the bottom of this page. If you find that the writing tips in my post aren’t helpful for you, you can unsubscribe at any time.
Recommended Reading for Writers
These are my favorite books on writing and editing. You can find most of these at the library or through most major book distributors!
- The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition
This is the go-to manual on all things grammar, style, formatting, and more when it comes to publication. You might never read it from cover to cover, but it’s good to have on hand. - The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation by Jane Stein
This book deals with major topics in grammar, punctuation, and word usage with practical explanations, clear examples, and self-check quizzes in the back of the book. If you need to tune up your grammar, this is the way to go! - Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition by Renni Browne and Dave King
If you want to clean up your own writing before sending it to an editor or agent, I’d advise this book. It walks you through a thorough book edit, with examples and explanations. - Elements of Fiction Writing – Characters & Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card
This is my favorite book on story planning. Learn how to make your characters believable, answer your readers’ questions of confusion and skepticism, and use both story type and point of view in a deep and meaningful way. - Write a Novel in 10 Minutes a Day by Katharine Grubb
If you think you don’t have time to write, pick up this book! This author wrote her own novel in 10-minute chunks of time in between homeschooling and caring for a household of five. Here, she tells you how to do the same–through planning, writing, revising, and publishing. - Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lammott
This is one of my favorite books on life and writing. Lammott talks about her own process of writing and shares how you can apply the lessons she has learned to your own writing. - Wordsmithy: Hot Tips for the Writing Life by Douglas Wilson
I love this book because it tells you how to live like a writer, through observation, reading, living, collecting, and–of course–writing. It’s a small book, but it packs a lot of punch. It definitely challenged me. - Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeline L’Engle
Madeline L’Engle believed that there is an essential connection between faith and art, and that we have a responsibility to create. This book explores those ideas and shares what that looked like for her as a writer. - The Art of Writing: Teachings of the Chinese Masters by Tony Barnstone
This book contains excerpts from ancient Chinese authors and poets. It gives a different perspective on the art of writing–where else would lessons on poetry writing be written in the form of poems representing each lesson? This is another small book with a lot to be gleaned. - The Well-Fed Writer: Financial Self-Sufficiency as a Commercial Freelancer in Six Months or Less by Peter Bowerman
If you want to use your writing professionally instead of just creatively, this is a great book on working as a freelance writer. Bowerman shares his own journey into freelancing and gives helpful insights in building a business from scratch that you can sustain–and that will sustain you in return.