Presented by Nick Chiarkas

Never do your self-editing all at once. As you begin the rewriting process, you also start the editing process. This is the art and the heart of it; this is when you begin to build castles and rewrites you can share with your writing group or your initial reader. A poorly edited manuscript is certain death for any legitimate agent or publisher. And it is one of the things within control along the journey to publication. Learning how to edit your manuscript will not only reduce costs but will improve your skill as a writer. Please do it. Take Away: Learning how to edit your manuscript will not only reduce cost but will improve your skill as a writer.

Nick Chiarkas grew up in the Al Smith housing projects in the Two Bridges neighborhood on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. When he was in the fourth grade, the principal of PS-1 told his mother, “Nick was unlikely ever to complete high school, so you must steer him toward a simple and secure vocation.” Instead, Nick became a writer, with a few stops along the way: a U.S. Army Paratrooper (101st Airborne Division); a New York City Police Officer; the Deputy Chief Counsel for the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations; the Deputy Chief Counsel and Research Director for the President’s Commission on Organized Crime; and the Director of the Wisconsin State Public Defender Agency. On the way, he picked up a Doctorate from Columbia University; a Law Degree from Temple University; and was a Pickett Fellow at Harvard. Nick is the author of Nunzio's Way and Weepers.