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Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print | 
 enlarge | Authors: Renni Browne, Dave King
Publisher: Collins
Category: Book
List Price: $13.99
Buy New: $7.94
You Save: $6.05 (43%)
New (30) Used (32) from $6.28
Rating:  126 reviews
Sales Rank: 3495
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2 Sub
Pages: 288
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.8
ISBN: 0060545690
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.3
EAN: 9780060545697
ASIN: 0060545690
Publication Date: April 1, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
There's not much of the old-style editing going on at publishing houses today. Renni Browne, veteran of William Morrow and other publishers, founded the Editorial Department in 1980 to teach fiction writers the techniques professional editors (many of whom have gone independent) use to prepare a manuscript for publication. In this book, she and senior editor Dave King share their accumulated expertise in a series of brilliantly compact lessons. One page from their simply and markedly improved version of a scene from The Great Gatsby alone would make a compelling advertisement for their techniques. Very highly recommended. --MTB
Product Description
Hundreds of books have been written on the art of writing. Here at last is a book by two professional editors to teach writers the techniques of the editing trade that turn promising manuscripts into published novels and short stories. In this completely revised and updated second edition, Renni Browne and Dave King teach you, the writer, how to apply the editing techniques they have developed to your own work. Chapters on dialogue, exposition, point of view, interior monologue, and other techniques take you through the same processes an expert editor would go through to perfect your manuscript. Each point is illustrated with examples, many drawn from the hundreds of books Browne and King have edited.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 121 more reviews...
 The Best Reference Book for Fiction Writers June 10, 2009
fmh (Florida USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The fiction writers self-editing book by Renni Browne and Dave King, in my opinion, is the best book to buy for aspiring, and even experienced, fiction writers. Save your money and only buy this book, it is the best.
 Excellent Advice on Improving Your Fiction June 9, 2009
stoic (Mobile AL)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers is an excellent book on how to improve your chances at publication. Authors Renni Browne and Dave King provide a wealth of suggestions in fewer than 200 pages.
SEFFW, however, can be difficult reading, as several reviewers have noted; you are likely to find that you are making many mistakes in your writing at present. Browne and King offer particularly strong sections on how to write dialogue and on "showing instead of telling."
The authors are very opinionated about the types of prose that contemporary readers expect (and, hence, that editors prefer to buy). You might find that some of Browne and King's advice is confining because it can curb your creativity. You should, moreover, be forewarned that not all of the advice in SEFFW is easy to adopt. The authors point out in the final chapter (on voice) that you develop fiction skills only with much hard work over an extended period of time.
In summary, Browne and King provide some great advice if you are serious about publishing your fiction.
Great Help May 31, 2009
David Wilkin (La Habra Heights, CA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Having just finished another first draft of a novel, it was time to pull Self-Editing off the shelf for my third read of this trusty book.
That I have it on my shelf and have reread it so many times is a testament to something, but what? it is truth of what we write. Through many examples, and exercises, which I will admit to passing on, the authors give us guidance in what we know to be on the lookout for. Things that we forget as we write and crank out that draft, letting our creativity spew before the other half of the mind takes over.
They are not addressing our creative process, but our thinking process where we use our consciousness to refine what we first wrote. Here they talk to us about scenes, beats, dialogue. Tools that we as writers should look at it. Very often I have complex conversations between multiple characters and the authors address where I have problems, just as i know I have those problems.
Its use is wihtout question. In this day of less editors of your work, you have to write a polished piece. This is a help.
Outstanding Writer's Tool May 21, 2009
Katherine A. Adair
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Any writer who is interested in becoming more effective, whether fiction or non-fiction, should read this book. I was impressed from the first page. Sound insights and well-chosen examples help to explain each concept. Every chapter covers an important writing skill, such as characterization, dialogue, proportion, points of view, and so much more. Each chapter ends with a checklist to evaluate personal work and exercises to build understanding. This is well-written and an enjoyable read. A must-have in any writer's resource library.
An excellent guide. May 19, 2009
Observer Who Read It
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This excellent work deals precisely with the subjects that are of concern to the talented, inexperienced writer. In my opinion this book would be a perfect tool to catapult a writer from stilted inexperience to smooth, acknowledged readability.
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