od, but they also have the ability to be far more objective. Of course, this does mean that you will have to shell out the money, but it beats chewing your fingernails to the quick as you wait for the opportune time to edit your own manuscript.

The moral of the story? Every manuscript needs to cool before it can be objectively and efficiently edited. If you give your mind some time to distance itself from the work you’ve already done, you can approach the task with a clear and unbiased perspective. It also gives you a chance to read the manuscript as your readers will see it, rather than from the viewpoint of the author, which you are. Reading yo

A few weeks ago, I received a phone call from one of my regular clients who is known to contact me at least once a week with one crisis or another. I love this woman to death, but “laid-back” is not a term I would used to describe her. Anyway, she was telling me that she was having trouble editing her manuscripts. She had three waiting to be sent to her editor, but she was missing errors left and right.

I suppressed the urge to laugh and I asked her how long ago she’d completed the manuscript. She replied, “I finished it yesterday, and now I can’t find a grammar mistake to save my life, even though I know that they’re in there.” I explained to her that no matter how wonderful a writer you are, there has to be a “cooling off period” for every manuscript.

Letting your manuscript cool is an effective way to distance yourself from your work. When you’ve devoted dozens of ten-hour days to a manuscript, you become consumed by your own words and every sentence becomes so familiar that you can’t possibly find mistakes when you attempt to go back and edit.

Typically, the time needed to let your manuscript cool is directly proportional to the length of the work. For example, a five-hundred-word article can cool for just a few hours before you begin to edit because you probably didn’t spend all that much time writing it to begin with. However, a 50,000-word fiction manuscript should cool for at least a few weeks before you attempt to edit. This allows you to maintain a clear and objective view of your work.

For many writers, allowing their manuscripts to cool for even a few minutes is painful. You’ve invested your life and your time into your work, and you want nothing more than to be able to present a polished copy to your editor or agent. I get that, and believe me, you’re not alone. Letting your manuscript cool for several weeks might also not be an option if you’re working under deadline, as so many authors are. Also understandable.

There are a few ways that you can combat this problem. First, you might want to edit your manuscript in sections. Write five chapters, then edit them; write five more and edit those. This allows you to give the work ample time to cool while you’re filling your time writing the rest. When you’ve completed the manuscript, you can perform one more edit of the entire thing, and Voila! You’re finished.

The second option is to hire a third-party editor. Most professional editors charge between $0.10 and $0.50 per word for full-length manuscripts, and you might find that this is money well spent. Not only do they not require a cooling-off period, but they also have the ability to be far more objective. Of course, this does mean that you will have to shell out the money, but it beats chewing your fingernails to the quick as you wait for the opportune time to edit your own manuscript.

The moral of the story? Every manuscript needs to cool before it can be objectively and efficiently edited. If you give your mind some time to distance itself from the work you’ve already done, you can approach the task with a clear and unbiased perspective. It also gives you a chance to read the manuscript as your readers will see it, rather than from the viewpoint of the author, which you are. Reading you

r that no matter how wonderful a writer you are, there has to be a “cooling off period” for every manuscript.

Letting your manuscript cool is an effective way to distance yourself from your work. When you’ve devoted dozens of ten-hour days to a manuscript, you become consumed by your own words and every sentence becomes so familiar that you can’t possibly find mistakes when you attempt to go back and edit.

Typically, the time needed to let your manuscript cool is directly proportional to the length of the work. For example, a five-hundred-word article can cool for just a few hours before you begin to edit because you probably didn’t spend all that much time writing it to begin with. However, a 50,000-word fiction manuscript should cool for at least a few weeks before you attempt to edit. This allows you to maintain a clear and objective view of your work.

For many writers, allowing their manuscripts to cool for even a few minutes is painful. You’ve invested your life and your time into your work, and you want nothing more than to be able to present a polished copy to your editor or agent. I get that, and believe me, you’re not alone. Letting your manuscript cool for several weeks might also not be an option if you’re working under deadline, as so many authors are. Also understandable.

There are a few ways that you can combat this problem. First, you might want to edit your manuscript in sections. Write five chapters, then edit them; write five more and edit those. This allows you to give the work ample time to cool while you’re filling your time writing the rest. When you’ve completed the manuscript, you can perform one more edit of the entire thing, and Voila! You’re finished.

The second option is to hire a third-party editor. Most professional editors charge between $0.10 and $0.50 per word for full-length manuscripts, and you might find that this is money well spent. Not only do they not require a cooling-off period, but they also have the ability to be far more objective. Of course, this does mean that you will have to shell out the money, but it beats chewing your fingernails to the quick as you wait for the opportune time to edit your own manuscript.

The moral of the story? Every manuscript needs to cool before it can be objectively and efficiently edited. If you give your mind some time to distance itself from the work you’ve already done, you can approach the task with a clear and unbiased perspective. It also gives you a chance to read the manuscript as your readers will see it, rather than from the viewpoint of the author, which you are. Reading yo

ll that much time writing it to begin with. However, a 50,000-word fiction manuscript should cool for at least a few weeks before you attempt to edit. This allows you to maintain a clear and objective view of your work.

For many writers, allowing their manuscripts to cool for even a few minutes is painful. You’ve invested your life and your time into your work, and you want nothing more than to be able to present a polished copy to your editor or agent. I get that, and believe me, you’re not alone. Letting your manuscript cool for several weeks might also not be an option if you’re working under deadline, as so many authors are. Also understandable.

There are a few ways that you can combat this problem. First, you might want to edit your manuscript in sections. Write five chapters, then edit them; write five more and edit those. This allows you to give the work ample time to cool while you’re filling your time writing the rest. When you’ve completed the manuscript, you can perform one more edit of the entire thing, and Voila! You’re finished.

The second option is to hire a third-party editor. Most professional editors charge between $0.10 and $0.50 per word for full-length manuscripts, and you might find that this is money well spent. Not only do they not require a cooling-off period, but they also have the ability to be far more objective. Of course, this does mean that you will have to shell out the money, but it beats chewing your fingernails to the quick as you wait for the opportune time to edit your own manuscript.

The moral of the story? Every manuscript needs to cool before it can be objectively and efficiently edited. If you give your mind some time to distance itself from the work you’ve already done, you can approach the task with a clear and unbiased perspective. It also gives you a chance to read the manuscript as your readers will see it, rather than from the viewpoint of the author, which you are. Reading yo

le.

There are a few ways that you can combat this problem. First, you might want to edit your manuscript in sections. Write five chapters, then edit them; write five more and edit those. This allows you to give the work ample time to cool while you’re filling your time writing the rest. When you’ve completed the manuscript, you can perform one more edit of the entire thing, and Voila! You’re finished.

The second option is to hire a third-party editor. Most professional editors charge between $0.10 and $0.50 per word for full-length manuscripts, and you might find that this is money well spent. Not only do they not require a cooling-off period, but they also have the ability to be far more objective. Of course, this does mean that you will have to shell out the money, but it beats chewing your fingernails to the quick as you wait for the opportune time to edit your own manuscript.

The moral of the story? Every manuscript needs to cool before it can be objectively and efficiently edited. If you give your mind some time to distance itself from the work you’ve already done, you can approach the task with a clear and unbiased perspective. It also gives you a chance to read the manuscript as your readers will see it, rather than from the viewpoint of the author, which you are. Reading yo

od, but they also have the ability to be far more objective. Of course, this does mean that you will have to shell out the money, but it beats chewing your fingernails to the quick as you wait for the opportune time to edit your own manuscript.

The moral of the story? Every manuscript needs to cool before it can be objectively and efficiently edited. If you give your mind some time to distance itself from the work you’ve already done, you can approach the task with a clear and unbiased perspective. It also gives you a chance to read the manuscript as your readers will see it, rather than from the viewpoint of the author, which you are. Reading your own work is always different from reading another writer’s work, but when you let your manuscript cool, you bridge that gap.

You can always use that time to get started on your next project!