Speaker 1: Alright, now that you've unleashed your creative torrent onto the pages with your rough draft, it's time to refine that raw energy into a polished gem. Editing and revision are the unsung heroes that transform a good story into a literary marvel. Let's unravel the techniques that will elevate your narrative to its fullest potential by emphasizing the importance of tightening prose, eliminating redundancies, and improving clarity. Alright, the first example today is from my forthcoming novel, Blackout. There's an intense scene at the beginning where Air Force One is on its final descent to Tampa, Florida, moments before the bad guys launch their deadly curtain of semtex-laden drones. Now, in the first draft, I'll admit, my narrative was mostly just a flurry of action. And then, when we entered the editor's domain, we worked hard to do a few things. This is where your first tip comes in. Tip number one. We worked to trim the excess by eliminating any unnecessary details that might dilute the impact. I tried, for example, to zero in on several key elements. The imminent threat, the characters' reactions, and the urgency in the air. When you do this, try to make sure that every word serves a purpose. I'll say that again. Try to make sure every word serves a purpose. Alright, second tip. Enhance the pacing. I purposely fine-tuned the pacing by adjusting sentence lengths and the overall structure to create a rhythm that more or less mirrors the tension of the scene. Kind of a tip on a tip here. Using short, impactful sentences can work wonders to help intensify the sense of urgency in a given paragraph or scene. Alright, second example. Same book, Blackout, with Jake Bindel as the protagonist. This time, let's discuss his determination. There's a scene where he's more or less on a quest for his wife who died a couple of books ago in gridlock. In Blackout, I've shifted the focus of the story at this point to Jake's determination to find his wife amidst the chaos. So in the first draft of this, this is a very emotional portion of the plot, and the emotional turmoil came off a bit scattered, just to be honest. But then during editing, I worked with my editor to sculpt those emotions into what hopefully is now a more poignant masterpiece. How did we do this? This is tip number three. By ensuring character consistency in my character's emotional journey. With my editor hat on, I worked to refine Jake's internal conflicts and made sure that his determination didn't waver. This worked to strengthen his emotional arc, which again, should help to make him resonate a little bit better with my readers. Tip number four, dialogue refinement. During editing, I worked hard to sharpen each line of dialogue. Jake's conversations, for example, with FBI acting director Jose Cavanagh and Kristy Connors needed to be razor sharp so that it conveys the depth of his emotions and the complexity of the unfolding conspiracy. All right, the third scene and final two tips. Try to visualize the antagonist escaping off the coast of Florida. In the first draft, the escape kind of lacked the finesse to keep my readers on the edge of their seats. How did we do this? This is tip number five, cohesive transitions. By ensuring smooth transitions between your scenes in the editing phase, we can refine, for example, in Blackout, how the antagonist's escape seamlessly connects with Jake and Connors' next moves. Now, I believe we have a well-edited narrative that flows effortlessly and again, maintain the reader's engagement. All right, final tip, tip number six, one final check for plot holes. This was done during the developmental edit, but it's also done again towards the end of the editing process, the line edit. To make sure that everything is as tight as possible, we need to make it super tight plot wise. So again, with my editor hat on, I tried to scrutinize the details surrounding the antagonist's escape and Jake's reactions. We needed to ensure that every twist and turn aligns seamlessly with the overarching plot, leaving absolutely no room for confusion. The last thing you want is to kind of pop your reader out of their plot bubble. So anyway, these are just some of the many editing techniques that I've learned over the years to help craft a well-written story. Please let me know in the comments if you'd like to know more. I'm always happy to share any knowledge that I can and remember, as I've been known to say, refine your tale, keep them intrigued. Good luck.