As you self-edit, what kinds of things do you start with? Today’s tips show you a quick and easy way to edit your writing.
Writing Tip for Today: Here are some editing tips to help you improve your writing:
Start Big
Novice writers often edit by agonizing over word choices. That’s fine, but not the most strategic method to smooth out your writing. Instead, look for the Big Picture as you revise. The Big Picture refers to the overall work as a whole.
Big Picture editing makes sense—agonizing over word choices is futile if that particular part gets rewritten or deleted. Fixing typos or dangling participles is fine, but first you want a compelling scene or essay. One way to learn better “big picture” editing skills is by asking yourself a few questions.
What is the essay/chapter/story purpose? Try to sum up the piece in one sentence. What do you want readers to understand or take away? Are you trying to persuade, illuminate, give knowledge, stir emotion? All of these? Be specific as you answer. Your thesis might be: We all need to feel safe, belong, etc. OR: This topic should inform/warn/change your mind. OR: The POV character is inching toward the goal of (fill in the blank).
Be Balanced
A next step in self-editing might be revising your writing for balance. Items such as Pace, Narration, Dialogue, Action and more should feel logical and balanced, not crammed all together in one place.
Balancing is your job as reader manager. You’re showing your reader what to remember, how to stay oriented in time and space and whether the goal is getting closer or farther from attainment. Part of effective writing is to mix (or weave, if you prefer) the different elements.
I always begin a scene by orienting readers by time, place and character. But readers can forget things such as the setting—especially if there are long paragraphs without any reminders. Balancing includes inserting small reminders of the scene background, so readers don’t start to see talking heads or bodies floating in space (unless they’re actually floating in space).
Balancing includes inserting small reminders of the scene’s setting.
Propel Forward
Advancing the Story generally means that readers can see the character trying, failing, deciding, acting again and failing or winning. In an essay every anecdote must contain a simple goal that is achieved or not in service to a single goal/topic. Both of these require action so readers can see tension and conflict play out in the work.
New writers often hear that back story fails to move forward the story. Back story, used in small amounts, can show motivation and why the character desires a goal. Keep back story short and link it to a trigger in the real-time scene. Why does this character think about this memory at this particular point? As you edit, check your use of back story. Does it seem to make the story stand still? Be sure back story doesn’t pull the real-time story out of view.
Tension and conflict keep readers asking, “What’s next?” Edit with an eye toward keeping tension high. If your action, dialogue and narration feel tense but could use more, add in emotional micro tension to engage readers’ emotions. These editing techniques take some practice, but all will allow your writing to shine brighter—and that’s before you decide about word choices or dangling participles.
