Intuitive Editing: A Creative and Practical Guide to Revising Your Writing

What separates a good manuscript from a publishable one? Effective editing.

In Intuitive Editing, veteran editor Tiffany Yates Martin reveals the professional editing techniques that help writers transform rough drafts into compelling, polished stories. Drawing on decades of experience working with bestselling and emerging authors, Martin demystifies the revision process and provides a practical framework for strengthening every aspect of fiction writing.

Whether you're writing a novel, short story, memoir, or narrative nonfiction, this comprehensive editing guide teaches you how to evaluate your manuscript with clarity, identify weaknesses that may be holding your story back, and make revisions that deepen reader engagement.

Inside you'll learn:

• How to develop your “editor brain” and approach revision with objectivity
• How to diagnose common story problems, and practical, actionable techniques for fixing them at the root, not the surface
• Tools for strengthening character, plot, story structure, and pacing
• How to identify and fix weak scenes, flat tension, or unclear stakes
• How to master suspense and tension, point of view, and voice
• How to recognize and eliminate common writing pitfalls and weak prose
• How to climb “Revision Mountain” without overwhelm—step by step

Unlike rigid rule-based writing manuals, Intuitive Editing helps writers develop the editorial instincts used by professional editors and successful authors. Martin shows not only what to fix, but why it matters and how those changes improve the reader's experience.

Praised by bestselling authors and industry pros, Intuitive Editing is an essential resource for anyone serious about mastering revision and producing stronger, more engaging stories, perfect for aspiring authors, self-published writers, creative writing students, book coaches, editors, and experienced novelists seeking to elevate their craft.

If you're looking for a trusted guide to fiction editing, manuscript revision, self-editing techniques, story structure, character development, and professional-level writing improvement, Intuitive Editing belongs on your writing shelf.

I started in the publishing industry more than twenty-five years agoas a copy editor for the Big Six (back then), when we still used redpencils and to fact-check I had to spend a day at the New York PublicLibrary. As a developmental editor for the last decade I work directlywith authors as well as through major publishing houses, on titles by New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal best-selling authors as well as manuscripts for independently published writers, single titles as well as entire series.

I hold a BA in English literature from Georgia State University andam a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association. I've had theprivilege of leading editing and writing workshops for many writers'groups, organizations, and conferences, including RWA National, PikesPeak Writers, Sisters in Crime, the Women's Fiction Writers Association, and the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, and I write for numerouswriters' sites and publications.