SSE Author - Tony Jaymes

SAVVY SELF-EDITING

The Writers Guide for Developing
Their Own Editing Process

by Tony Jaymes

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tony Jaymes, the author of SAVVY SELF-EDITING, is the well-known writing/editing instructor and lecturer. Her unique guide on “the complete approach to editing” evolved from two years of writing her novel and five hard years of learning how to edit it. Out of her struggles, she created the SAVVY SELF-EDITING Book and Seminar to help other writers develop their own editing process. Like Strunk & White's ELEMENTS OF STYLE, the book's four-part format is concise and easy to use. SAVVY is packed with all her how-to, hands-on experiences to make the writer's—and teacher's—job of putting black on white easier.

In addition to her book and seminar, Tony Jaymes' teaches writing/editing at Santa Barbara City College Writers Workshop. Today, many universities, community colleges and writing workshops use SAVVY SELF-EDITING as a textbook, a companion text to Strunk and White's ELEMENTS OF STYLE and/or as a reference book on their syllabus.

Other credits include published short stories, magazine articles and speeches. She is the editor of three published books by other authors. Her novel won a Santa Barbara Writers Conference Fiction Award in 1987 and it was one of the finalists in the 1990 Hackney Literary Awards.

THE AUTHOR SPEAKS TO WRITERS

“Show, don't tell.”
“Your characters are dull.”
“You have no story.”

Sound familiar? Every writer in a creative writing class, workshop or critique group has heard these demoralizing comments at one time or another. I know. I've been there. I was no novice to writing. I had been inside the ivy-covered halls of academia. But, oh! what a difference between a “darn good” academic paper and a “darn good” story.

I had a lot to learn. It took me two years to write my novel and five tough years to learn how to “show, don't tell,” “create engaging characters,” and “tell one heck of a story.”

Out of these hard-earned, coffee-stained-manuscript experiences came SAVVY SELF-EDITING to help other writers develop their own editing process—fast! For those times when you find yourself staring into space, sick of the whole project, and threatening to take up rock climbing, take heart. Think of editing as like making love. It's a lot more fun when you know what you're doing.

Keep on writin' on,

Tony Jaymes

The Writers Guide for Developing Their Own Editing Process

The Writers Guide for Developing
Their Own Editing Process