Savvy Self-Editing

TEN QUICK TIPS gives you a mindset, turns Jekyll, the writer, the artist, into Hyde, the editor, the slasher.

TEN QUICK TIPS

for

Savvy Self-Editing

You go to bed certain you produced the best writing of your life.  Shakespeare is turning green in his grave.  In the morning, you read it and think:  Who wrote this?

1.   DETACH FROM THE WRITING  

• Take a week off.  Distance cools infatuation with your words and refines judgment.

• Then, edit ruthlessly.

Start with the action and you will -

2.   HOOK THE READER

• Begin the story “in the middle of things.”

• Grab the reader/editor’s attention with the first sentence.

Sound sense enhances dramatic sense.  Say: “handsome, dark and tall,” then “tall, dark and handsome.” Hear the difference?

3.   READ ALOUD

• Read aloud for a sense of rhythm, pacing, voice and diction.

• Hear the dialogue.  Must sound right to read right.

“Vary sentence structure” is a good rule, but who can argue with the opening paragraph of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair...  

4.   NOTHING IS SACRED

• Cut any character, sentence, paragraph or chapter that doesn’t advance story.  Only story is sacred.

• Break a rule if you have a good reason, i.e., advances  story, deepens character, enhances style, etc.

TV and movies have changed fiction writing:  pace and action are quicker, author presence minimized, emphasis is on direct dialogue, and single point-of-view (POV) in scene/chapter is preferred.

5.   SHOW, DON’T TELL

• Verbs and nouns over adjectives and adverbs.

• Action over exposition.

Simple ain’t easy.  My son mastered this technique at nine.  His letter from camp said:  Dear Mom, Send money.  Love, Chris. 

6.   SIMPLIFY

• Small words over big ones.

• Lean, clean sentences.

• Say it once, say it well.

In On The Art of Writing (1916) Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch advises writers to “murder your darlings.”  Still good advice.

7.   SLASH AND BURN PURPLE PROSE

• Burn “poetic darlings.”

• Slash modifiers, over-writing and inflated language.

Make ‘em cry, make ‘em laugh, make ‘em worry.  Story is all.

8.   FOCUS ON STORY STRUCTURE

• Hook beginning, page-turning middle, big-finish ending.

• Strongest character to drive story, right tone to color it, dramatic conflict to show     meaningful change in protagonist at the end.

Time is money.  Editors want professional work.