Editing
#5 of The Art and Science of Writing
Have you ever said something and realized it sounded way better in your head? Have you ever thought of an awesome comeback long after it was way too late to do anything about it? Have you ever written something on Facebook and then read it and rewritten it?
Editing is the difference between sounding like you know what you are talking about and our stumbling first attempt. Regularly my fingers cannot keep up with my brain and I will reread something and discover I wrote something completely different from what I originally thought. While spelling and punctuation are part of this process, more often I read something and then say "What in the hell did I just write?"
I used to post first drafts but then I discovered I was losing readers because they did not want to reread my material. This led me to the three draft rule:
- Do not post until you have edited something at least two times!
Why?
Draft 1: Raw and full of issues. The first draft is the road which the story is running down. We need to get the ideas out of our head and onto the page or else the whole process is just a chaotic soup of ideas in our brain. When we pour that chaotic soup into words ... it rarely comes out clean. It does, however, need to come out. Editing will make it better!
Draft 2: The first time I reread it I am often amazed at how bad it is. I will fix sentences that make no sense, move paragraphs around, and correct grammar errors that make me sound like a fifth grader.
Draft 3 (and beyond): This draft is where I begin to polish my writing. If I am writing a simple short story without a lot of plot, I may only polish it once or twice. If I am writing a professional novel with 150,000 words and my reputation is on the line, then I will have 10 drafts, send the story to friends & family for feedback, and then I will send it to another professional who will edit this for me.
Don't Post Today:
If you are a person who posts on-line then you need to restrain yourself from posting something the moment you think it is ready. This is really difficult for most of us as we get really excited about the thing we just created and want to share it with our friends and audience right away. While we are sometimes forced to do this, I will warn you ... you shall be amazed with your own work after you have had a little distance from it. If I look back upon this paper tomorrow, I will find some things wrong with it that I would not have found otherwise. If I check back in on this paper next month or next year ... I will find even more.
WHY!? Because your mind will fill in the blank spaces. If I know how something is supposed to look and sound, then I will see it whether I have written it down or not. That is why we need to step away from it. That is also why you need editors who are other people.
When to Stop:
Eventually, you need to let your story go. This does not mean it is perfect. This does not mean you will never edit it again. This just means you have spent enough time with it and you need to let it go. The idea of perfection is a tempting one but we are human ... and perfection is supposed to be a godly trait. I am not a deity of any type thus I will error. That is why I do my best and then toss it forth.