You may also try working on another piece of writing or doing a relaxing activity to get your mind off of the short story. Once you feel you have almost forgotten about the short story entirely, pull it out again and read it. This will help you see it from a fresh perspective and edit it from a fresh point of view.
You may read the story out loud several times to get a sense of how the voice and tone works in the piece. You may use a pen to mark down sections or moments that do not sound clear or strong when read out loud.
For example, you may have the following sentence in your story: “He raced through the crowded, bustling street to catch the smelly, congested number 1 bus. " This sentence may be more effective if you cut out one to two adjectives. You may edit it to read: “He raced through the crowded street to catch the number 1 bus. " You should also check for any sentences that are long winded or run on sentences. Often, if a sentence goes over three to four lines on a page, it is too long. You may need to balance the narrative voice of the short story with your edits. This means perhaps leaving in longer sentences if this is the style and voice of the piece. If you do leave in longer sentences, make sure they feel intentional and purposeful.
For example, you may have the phrase “She was as smart as a whip” in your short story. This is a cliche phrase that does not tell the reader much about the character. You may replace the cliche phrase with a more unique phrase, such as, “She excelled in school and could size someone up right away. ” The second phrase tells the reader that the character is smart by describing her specific qualities, rather than relying on a cliche.
When you are reviewing the dialogue in your story, make sure you are using “said” as a tag in the dialogue. For example, you may write, “‘Where is he?’ she said” or “‘I’m out,’ he said. ” Avoid using verbs as dialogue tags in your story, as this can be confusing for the reader. For example, rather than write, “‘I hate this place,’ she scoffed”, you may write, “‘I hate this place,’ she said. ”
For example, rather than write, “She hated the house. She wanted to move to New York,” you may show this detail instead. You may write, “The house had bad plumbing and a wet, rotting smell. New York will be better than this place, she thought to herself as she close the door behind her. ”
You may try reading the short story out loud to a friend or colleague in addition to giving them a hard copy. You may get more detailed feedback if you read the short story out loud to them, as they can tell you right away when a section does not sound right or as strong as it could be. Remember not to take any criticism you receive of your short story personally. You are getting your writing critiqued after all, and any feedback does not reflect on you as a person. Instead, try to view feedback as valuable and part of the revising process.
You may also try taking a writing class where you can workshop your writing with other writers. You may find it useful to discuss the craft of writing and several different approaches to writing in the class, in addition to getting your short story edited by other writers.
You may end up working with a professional editor if you submit the short story to a call for submissions at a literary magazine or a journal. The editor can help you adjust minor issues in the story so it is set for publication.
