Books are not written; they are re-written! This being said, editing is probably the most important step in the writing process. It is not a skill that any writer can find themselves lacking on. This is also a task that the writer will find themselves doing time and time again; there is rarely ever one round of editing done and a story be considered a finished product. As I did with the writing tips, I'm including some great editing tips I've picked up over the years that have helped. Some of these tips I've used and still use, and others have not worked for me. Just remember to pick the ones that work for you and run with them. Everyone is individualistic!
* Note: These tips may not work for everyone.
1) Just write! By this I mean that you should just right the story. Start at the beginning and go to the finish of the book before you worry about the editing process. If you start picking the story apart before you've finished it, then you end up with a bigger headache of your hands. You could also get caught up in the editing process and forget the most important thing - to write the story!
2) I keep a printout from a great website posted near my writing desk. You can obtain it at www.barbaradawsonsmith.com/selfediting.html
3) After writing your story, take a break from it. Put the work aside and work on something else for a few days (I've even waited a week before). This gives the story time to fade from your thoughts a little. It's like closing your mental eye long enough to let it refocus. By taking a break, you're no longer emersed in the world and blind to it's details.
4) The previous tip is going to help with this tip as well. Actually READ your own novel. Don't do this as the writer; do this as a reader who enjoys the genre you're writing in. By putting it aside for a little bit, you distance yourself enough to have a different objective.
5) An English teacher once gave me the best advice in editing I've ever gotten. Read your manuscript backwards. (RE: This only works for editing grammatical structure and typing errors, not for cohesion and content.) If you read the manuscript backwards line by line, then your eye is more apt to picking up any typographical errors. As a person reads they anticipate what is going to be said next and that causes them to glance over sometimes obvious mistakes.
6) If you are still unsure about editing mistakes, find a Beta reader (otherwise known as a test reader). Beta readers can be used for dual purposes. They can help you edit mistakes, and they can also read for content. My Beta readers first read the story to tell me what they like or don't like about the manuscript, and then they go back and read for actual errors in cohesion, grammar, and spelling.
7) And, lastly....Spell Checker offered on the computer is not the "god of spelling". *lol* Seriously, Spell Checker can make glaring mistakes at times. Also, if you are using an unrecognizable vocabulary in your manuscript, it will not recognize it at all; and there are times when you'll mistype even your own vocabulary.