Say what you will about twitter, I’ve found the twitter writing community to be an amazing and supportive group. Not only do other writers at all stages of their careers exchange thoughts, suggestions, and encouragement, but agents and editors also wade gleefully into the fray, answering questions and posting their #MSWL (Manuscript Wish List).
A recent twitter exchange with an agent about acceptable word counts (i.e. how many words a novel in any particular genre can be, before an agent will reject it on sight) ended with her giving me a recommendation that has turned out to be, no word of a lie, the BEST editing resource I’ve ever found.
The Word Loss Diet, by Rayne Hall https://www.amazon.ca/Word-Loss-Diet-Professional-Self-Editing-Techniques-ebook/dp/B00AWA7XEE/
If you write, get this book. It took me two days to apply it to one of my manuscripts. Add another two days for an in-depth read through, and another two for a final polish, and you essentially have a one-week deep-edit. I cut 6000 words from my YA manuscript, and 11,000 from the adult one. With no (negative) changes to plot, character arc, world-building, or flow. I thought my writing was tight before…now it’s so tight you could bounce a quarter off it!
Ghosts, Zombies, and other Fun Things 