On Editing: How to Edit with Confidence and Elevate Your Writing

"Nothing is unreal as long as you can imagine like a crow." --Munia Khan



Conventional wisdom says that a crow can not be tamed. These intelligent creatures are often understood as harbingers of doubt and uncertainty, whose high nesting grant them an unusually elevated perspective. For the writer, the crows of doubt circle over every project. This book shows they can be tamed.




Writing is a magical hobby and form of expression but getting words on the page is not the same as finalizing material which you are happy to send out and share. This book is a complete toolkit which will help you to tame doubts and insecurities and engage with your internal critic in order to assert control over your manuscript and elevate your writing.




Written by the team behind one of the world's most successful literary consultancies, Taming the Crows will show you how to master the art of self-editing--perhaps the least understood but most vital skill in the writer's toolkit. 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.




About the Series:

The Teach Yourself Creative Writing series helps aspiring authors tell their stories. Covering a range of genres from science fiction and romantic novels to illustrated children's books and comedy, this series is packed with advice, exercises, and tips for unlocking creativity and improving your writing. And because we know how daunting the blank page can be, we set up the Just Write online community, as tyjustwrite.com, for budding authors and successful writers to connect and share.

Helen Bryant is the founder of Cornerstones Literary Consultancy, an organization which offers a bespoke service of help and advice to novelists and writers, whether they're just getting started or already published. Helen launched the business after leaving Penguin in 1998 and has developed it into the UK's leading literary consultancy. She is passionate about writing, editing, and launching new authors, and particularly focused on the essential but mysterious art of self editing. Helen and her team of over 60 editorial consultants use their working knowledge of the global book market to show what is and isn't working in your manuscript, and how to fix it and fulfill the promise of your big idea, preparing for submission to agents and publishers and --eventually--publication.