--- product_id: 8247298 title: "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print ― A Professional Writing Guide on \"Show, Don't Tell\"" price: "SAR 82" currency: SAR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.com.sa/products/8247298-self-editing-for-fiction-writers-second-edition-how-to-edit store_origin: SA region: Saudi Arabia --- # Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print ― A Professional Writing Guide on "Show, Don't Tell" **Price:** SAR 82 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print ― A Professional Writing Guide on "Show, Don't Tell" - **How much does it cost?** SAR 82 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.com.sa](https://www.desertcart.com.sa/products/8247298-self-editing-for-fiction-writers-second-edition-how-to-edit) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## 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 essential editing techniques of the 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 professional book 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. This essential guide for writers teaches you how to: Show, Don't Tell: Master the crucial difference between narrative summary and immediate scenes to draw readers into the world you’ve created. Sharpen Your Dialogue: Move beyond mechanics to eliminate formality, find each character’s unique voice, and make every conversation advance your story. Strengthen Point of View: Learn to control narrative distance and maintain a consistent viewpoint to build a powerful, intimate connection with your reader. Refine Character and Pacing: Unobtrusively weave in characterization and exposition, and use proportion to control your story’s rhythm and flow. Develop a Professional Voice: Identify and eliminate amateurish habits, from clichés to weak verbs, to give your writing a sophisticated, polished edge. Review: A must have in any indie author's library! - One of the biggest surprises I encountered as a new author was the reality that writing the first draft of a book is the easy part! Sadly, I've learned that my free-flow, stream-of-consciousness way of story telling doesn't end up on the page as anything even close to what most people would expect from a best-selling novel. Of course I knew that I was going to need to edit, but I thought that editing was basically a spelling/grammar check followed by a quick read-through looking for any wrong words/typos that might slip through the software. WRONG! This was the first book I bought after coming to that realization, and it is still my go-to for quick-hit tips (and now reminders) on good editing practices. The authors do a great job of leading a novice writer through important editing concepts like "show don't tell", writing good dialogue and the proper use of "beats" to keep readers engaged. Each of the twelve chapters focuses on an attribute of good writing, and the core concepts are explained clearly and supported with multiple helpful examples. There are lots of nuggets of sage advice sprinkled throughout the book, but I found my favorite in chapter one: R.U.E or "resist the urge to explain". As a one-time corporate learning professional, I appreciate the author's use of checklists and practice exercises at the end of each chapter to reinforce what you learned. The checklists are handy quick-references that I refer back to frequently, and the exercises incorporate relevant examples that make it easy for you to apply what you just read. This book won't turn you into a professional editor over night, but it will help you improve the quality of your writing and give you a solid understanding of what professional editors look for. I used what I learned from this book to self-edit my first novel, and I was thrilled when the editor I hired told me that she thought I was a professional author with multiple books under my belt (I have one). Most of us are limited in how much we can spend on our writing habit each month but, trust me, your investment in “Self-Editing for Fiction Writers” will be money well-spent! Review: Great resource for writers. - OK, I love this book. I have so many post-it flags hanging on the page edges that my cat is entertained while I read. There is really good advice, examples of the concepts explained, and exercises to put them into practice. I have put my own writing through several of the exercises and they are really enjoyable to do. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #19,160 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #4 in Education Research (Books) #7 in Editing Writing Reference (Books) #10 in Research Reference Books | | Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,781 Reviews | ## Images ![Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print ― A Professional Writing Guide on "Show, Don't Tell" - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61qCAthLA5L.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A must have in any indie author's library! *by D***R on March 27, 2019* One of the biggest surprises I encountered as a new author was the reality that writing the first draft of a book is the easy part! Sadly, I've learned that my free-flow, stream-of-consciousness way of story telling doesn't end up on the page as anything even close to what most people would expect from a best-selling novel. Of course I knew that I was going to need to edit, but I thought that editing was basically a spelling/grammar check followed by a quick read-through looking for any wrong words/typos that might slip through the software. WRONG! This was the first book I bought after coming to that realization, and it is still my go-to for quick-hit tips (and now reminders) on good editing practices. The authors do a great job of leading a novice writer through important editing concepts like "show don't tell", writing good dialogue and the proper use of "beats" to keep readers engaged. Each of the twelve chapters focuses on an attribute of good writing, and the core concepts are explained clearly and supported with multiple helpful examples. There are lots of nuggets of sage advice sprinkled throughout the book, but I found my favorite in chapter one: R.U.E or "resist the urge to explain". As a one-time corporate learning professional, I appreciate the author's use of checklists and practice exercises at the end of each chapter to reinforce what you learned. The checklists are handy quick-references that I refer back to frequently, and the exercises incorporate relevant examples that make it easy for you to apply what you just read. This book won't turn you into a professional editor over night, but it will help you improve the quality of your writing and give you a solid understanding of what professional editors look for. I used what I learned from this book to self-edit my first novel, and I was thrilled when the editor I hired told me that she thought I was a professional author with multiple books under my belt (I have one). Most of us are limited in how much we can spend on our writing habit each month but, trust me, your investment in “Self-Editing for Fiction Writers” will be money well-spent! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great resource for writers. *by E***N on April 27, 2026* OK, I love this book. I have so many post-it flags hanging on the page edges that my cat is entertained while I read. There is really good advice, examples of the concepts explained, and exercises to put them into practice. I have put my own writing through several of the exercises and they are really enjoyable to do. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rules for Writing Bloodless Prose *by J***R on June 28, 2011* The deeper I read into this book, the more it seemed each chapter was a scalpel given the writer to flay a manuscript, stripping off the flesh, blood, and muscle, and leaving a desiccated heap of bones. Strip out narrative summary, strip out adjectives and adverbs, strip out description, strip out exclamation points and italics. I was gratified to find, upon picking up a prize-winning or best-selling book, that their authors ignore these rules, if they ever even heard of them. Examples: 1. Always use "said" as a speaker attribution, not "he growled," "she snapped," etc., which "explain" the dialogue. From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," ch. 2: she screeched, she demanded, his aunt snapped, Uncle Vernon suggested, snapped Aunt Petunia, she cried, he whined, Dudley ordered, Harry murmured, Dudley moaned. 2. Eliminate almost all -ly adverbs, because, among other sins, they are "lazy writing" and "patronize" the reader. From "The Godfather" by Mario Puzo, ch. 1: formidably, physically, harshly, impressively, slyly, hoarsely, garishly, delicately, perfectly, mockingly, sadly, fiercely, strongly, shrewdly, lewdly, gaily, easily, thickly, powerfully, fully, disdainfully, angrily, easily, elaborately, immensely, lecherously, respectfully, notoriously, joyfully, casually, thoroughly, lightly, cheerfully, surely, carefully, vigorously, apologetically, inquiringly, slowly, incredulously, personally, prudently, truly, gingerly, questioningly, anxiously, etc., etc. 3. Don't write dialect phonetically. The authors quote a passage from Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn," with phrases like "I be ding-busted!" and decry it as "hard to follow," that it must be "translated." They quote approvingly from a passage in Catherine Cottle's "The Price of Milk and Honey," in which two allegedly poor southern blacks converse like two collegians at a campus Starbucks. For me, when I read Twain's black characters, I hear their voices and see their faces; I am drawn into the scene with delight at the music of their speech. Reading modern dialect, where everyone speaks with perfect "King's English" diction, strips individuality and poetry from dialogue. I give the book four stars because it does help the novice to avoid the worst offenses of hack writers. And they are honest that the decline of modern fiction has been driven by TV and movies; an MTV-addled generation, with their twitchy attention span, lacks the sustained focus great literature requires. But follow all the rules to the letter and you end up with a lifeless skeleton of a story. The masters, as quoted above, know better. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.com.sa/products/8247298-self-editing-for-fiction-writers-second-edition-how-to-edit](https://www.desertcart.com.sa/products/8247298-self-editing-for-fiction-writers-second-edition-how-to-edit) --- *Product available on Desertcart Saudi Arabia* *Store origin: SA* *Last updated: 2026-07-08*