By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills
Professional writers understand the value of harvesting their drafts. Editing—whether fiction or nonfiction—ensures a bountiful crop that readers will savor. Preparing a manuscript for publication is like a harvest, often the most labor-intensive part of producing quality work. But in this stage, we bring clarity, polish, and hidden grains of value to the surface. The process takes time and diligence before sharing our treasured work to readers.
The process usually involves multiple passes.
- First, use text-to-voice software available on Word, Scrivener or another tool to listen to your draft and make any necessary revisions.
- Next, print the manuscript and edit line-by-line.
- Finally, complete at least one more read through to catch any lingering issues.
How do we step into the fields of our manuscripts with a positive attitude and glean an amazing crop? Here are ten practical steps.
1. Gather the right tools
Keep both digital and physical resources:
- Calendar
- Dictionary
- Grammarly / ProWritingAid
- Scrivener
- Text-to-Voice software
- The Chicago Manual of Style
- Word and Phrase Frequency Counter
- AI
2. Store your work
- Back up your abundant writing frequently
- On discouraging days (the rainy season), backups help renew our enthusiasm and protect our crop.
3. Cut diseased words
- Remove anything that weakens the manuscript.
- Filler and overused words
- Redundancies
- “Telling” instead of “showing” Unintended modifiers
- Never use two words when one word will do
4. Cut unnecessary words
Trim excess to keep your manuscript lean:
- Adverbs: are they needed?
- Adjectives: do they add meaning or clutter?
- Over-explained passages
- Long lists that weigh down the reader
5. Store seeds for next harvest
- Save notes and references for future writing projects
- Record lessons learned in grammar and punctuation
- File research and interviews
- Participate in writing groups and give back to other writers
6. Winnow
Let time act as wind, blowing clarity into the manuscript:
- Remove cliché— create fresh new metaphors and similes
- Save deleted or revised material in a separate file
7. Reap
The manuscript should show evidence of a healthy yield:
- Strong hooks at the beginning and end of scenes
- Consistency in content, spelling, and punctuation
- Clear chronological order
- Smooth transitions
- Varying sentence length for rhythm
8. Yield Fiction
Ensure the story elements are ripe:
- Three-dimensional protagonists and antagonists
- Tension and conflict in every line using emotive conflict
- Tight plot with each scene containing a goal, conflict, and high stakes
- Dialogue is in character and moves the story ahead
- Setting is antagonistic in every scene
- Balanced and credible emotion
- True to genre
- Unique and powerful voice
9. Yield Nonfiction
- Clear premise that carries throughout, providing purpose and value to reader
- Writer’s credentials and passion
- Table of contents that supports the topic logically
- Facts presented with storytelling techniques
- Documented details and supporting evidence
- Engaging, reader friendly language
- Unique and compelling voice
- Content that challenges the reader to act improve, or explore
10. Marketing the Harvest
Our work deserves to be widely shared.
- Organize marketing activities with spreadsheets or templates
- Stay current with social media trends
- View social media as a means of meeting reader needs
- Post regularly on social media platforms
- Build a professional website
- Prepare bios of different lengths
- Invest in a professional headshot
- Learn to create memes, sized according to social media platform
- Present a realistic marketing and promotion campaign to agent and editor
- Write guest blogs while the story/nonfiction project is fresh on your mind
- Visit bookstores and introduce yourself—physical and online
- Research book clubs—physical and online
Are you ready to harvest your draft and make every word part of your best crop?
DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who invites her readers to step into stories where suspense meets adventure and romance warms the heart. Known for crafting unforgettable characters tangled in unpredictable plots, DiAnn believes every breath we take unfolds a story waiting to be told—so why not make it thrilling?
Her novels have consistently landed on bestseller lists including CBA, ECPA, and Publishers Weekly, and have won prestigious awards such as the Christy, Selah, Golden Scroll, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol awards.
DiAnn is a founding board member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Conference Advisor for the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers. She actively participates in Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Mystery Writers of America, the Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild, International Thriller Writers, Outliers Writing University, and The Christian Pen. DiAnn passionately invests in helping fellow authors succeed through mentoring, book coaching, and editing. She travels nationwide speaking and teaching engaging writing workshops.
A proud coffee snob who roasts her own beans, DiAnn also enjoys diving into good books, experimenting in the kitchen, and unabashedly spoiling her grandchildren—whom she insists are the smartest kids in the universe. She and her husband make their home under the sunny skies of Houston, Texas.
Connect with DiAnn online for behind-the-scenes glimpses, writing tips, and lively discussions: Facebook, X, Instagram, Pinterest, Goodreads, BookBub, YouTube, LinkedIn, or her website: diannmills.com.
