In my quest to read more nonfiction and improve my writing skills, I picked up a book that was recommended to me several years ago. It was a good decision. Manuscript Makeover by Elizabeth Lyon is one of the best how-to books on editing I’ve read in a while.
One of the great things I’ve found about how-to books is that they trigger ideas for improving my plots, characters, settings, and so forth. It happened several times throughout this book, which has caused me to go back and make key changes to the second draft of the urban fantasy I’m working on.
Now I find myself with three sets of notes to type up. One for the book review I’ll post. The second is a quick summary of editing tips I specifically need to address in all of my manuscripts. The third is to incorporate all of those notes I scribbled down about the urban fantasy.
The last section is entitled ‘Marketing’, but it’s not about promoting and increasing visibility. It’s about properly preparing your manuscript to submit to publishers. Lyon offers some really great tips on writing query letters and a synopsis. If you’re a fiction writer, I strongly encourage you to read this book. With any luck, new ideas will spring up for your work.
Mystery Deb 
Definitely time to go back and re-read what I’ve highlighted in my copy.
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I can see that I’ll be doing that many times. You were right about the incredibly useful Characters section. Wow!
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I attended a workshop by Elizabeth Lyon at SWiC a few years ago. She is very knowledgeable. Sounds like a good book.
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Thanks for commenting, Darlene. I’ve heard great things about her workshops, but I gather that she hasn’t attended over the past couple of years. I’m not sure if she’ll be there this year.
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