Strategies to improve your self-editing skills
This post should take about 5 minutes to read through.
The reason it's hard for the writer to be their own editor is that they know how the sausage is made. We don't see the text, we see our efforts, we see the scenes as they're playing out in our minds, we see the familiar characters that have grown on us, we see worlds we've painstakingly crafted. As we edit our books, we often miss silly typos (especially "the devil's typo," words that are correctly written but wrong like singeing vs singing, chocking vs choking, and more), wrong pronouns, wrong prepositions, gaps in the narration (characters mentioned being somewhere, then being elsewhere, without being described as moving in-between), tiny inconsistencies (clothes, places, emotional states), and more. This is one of the reasons it's incredibly important to have an editor (thank you Menelaos!), or at least a dedicated proofreader (a massive thank you to my wife!).
However, not all hope is lost! As a poor self-published writer, I've had to resort to self-editing quite a few times, as so far I haven't been able to employ a professional editor. As a result, I've discovered several techniques that help make sure you can see the trees instead of the forest, and unearth all those silly little mistakes.
First, I highly suggest using the local/offline version of Microsoft Word for editing, no matter what software you use for writing (and you can find more about my software of choice here). The built-in spellcheck can catch several typos and wrong verbs. However, not all suggestions are good. In my experience, one in five will be definitely wrong, and of those, some will be wildly wrong. It's still pretty good, though! To get even more suggestions, press Review -> Editor (or F7), let it run through your document, and then go through the suggestions, or the document normally. Remember to do this every time you open the document!
Still on the subject of MS Word, there's an excellent feature which I've used heavily myself, since I'm also a professional editor. It's called "Line Focus." To find it, either search for "Line Focus" on the top bar (Alt + Q), or enter "Immersive Reader" (View -> Immersive Reader), then select "One Line" in the Immersive Reader menu, Line Focus submenu. This will hide everything but the line where your cursor is. It's incredibly useful in most cases, as it allows you to focus on a single piece of your text, slow down your reading, and force you to read with your eyes instead of your memory—it's almost like a meditation technique in that way. I've found that the only cases where this doesn't help is when the writer (or you, if you're self-editing) writes very long sentences or has very long descriptions, or when you need to fix issues with paragraph structure; in both cases, you need to see more than a single line at the time, so this might be a hindrance instead of an aid. This technique has been used by editors for ages, though before the time of word processors, editors just placed two pieces of paper above and below the line they were editing!
Please note that all suggestions regarding MS Word are true as of April 2026. Since Microsoft keeps enshittifying its software with useless AI, I'm not sure if this advice will be valid at the time you're reading this.
The core of the issue with self-editing is that the editor, who's also the writer, knows what's happening and has several preconceptions about the book. They're reading with their memory, not their eyes. So, any technique that drastically changes how they perceive the story can help. Another example of this, is reading the writing out loud! You're still seeing the text, so you can catch typos, but at the same time, you're listening to the text. This allows you to catch several different problems; typos where the word is pronounced differently, issues with word choice, word flow problems, and strange wording, to name a few. It's an excellent tool for dialogue, too. When you hear the words out loud, you can fix strange or unnatural phrasing.
A variant technique of the above is to use a text-to-speech utility. MS Word has one built-in (Review -> Read Aloud). It's very convenient especially when the speech synthesizer isn't that good, because it again forces you to see the text in a new light. If it's too smooth, it won't be too different from your own thoughts, but if it's a bit awkward, it will help you spot your awkward writing, as it'll stand out more.
Finally, a more vague suggestion is to block out everything you know about your book. If line focus is like a meditation technique, this is even closer to one! Try to read your book like your worst reader. Try to imagine how an individual whose attention span is ruined by modern social media would read the book, or someone who's actively trying to find fault with it, a hate reader, would treat your carefully crafted sentences. Try to read your book having forgotten everything about it, as if it's the first time you're reading it. I've found three things you can do to help with this; having a person read parts of your book and tell you their thoughts out loud, reading your proofreaders' comments, and reading reviews about your book. These will help you understand how to get in a state of mind that is different from your usual one.
I do not suggest the above in order to encourage you to dumb down your book. I actually want to encourage you to not dumb it down! Don't write your book for the lowest common denominator. A book for everyone is a book for no one, always remember that. But if an idea pops in your head that would objectively improve the book, like realizing you never described the inn your characters were in, for example, then implement it.
It's hard to edit your own books. In my experience, no matter how good a writer is at self-editing (and I've known some who are quite excellent), they'll never be able to see the book objectively. Another set of eyes is invaluable. However, you can certainly improve your skills to be at a level that are quite functional. Another rule to remember: done is better than perfect.
Thank you for taking the time to read my ideas. As always, don't hesitate to message me directly if you have something you want to tell me, good or bad. You know where to find me.
Keep writing!