Six Simple Steps to Sensible
Editing
by Mervyn Love
O.K., so you've finished your story or article, you've breathed
a sigh of relief and are just about to reach for the envelope
and stamps when the Good Writers' Fairy raps you smartly on the
head and whispers "What about editing, numbskull?'
"But it's perfect as it is. I've read it through carefully and
it's great!"
Good Writers' Fairy is not impressed. "Go and lie down," she
says caustically, "preferably for three days, then come back
and read it again."
You reluctantly concur, as too many whacks with the fairy wand
give you a headache. In three days you smugly start reading
again. The smug quickly turns to shock. Gracious me, you say,
or words to that effect, did I really write 'timber' instead of
'timbre'? And why did I change the heroine's name from
Charmaine to Charlotte in paragraph three? The list
lengthens.
6 Simple Steps to Sensible Editing
1. Spelling and grammar. The first thing to do is run the spell
checker and grammar checker. It's a pain, but do it. Make any
changes remembering that computers are stupid and don't know
everything. Of course you should really have your software set
to show errors as you type. In which case under some words or
phrases you will have coloured squiggly lines. Ask yourself why
they are there, and correct them if they need it.
2. Three days grace. Now do as the Good Writers' Fairy says.
Put your new work of art away for three whole days. Agony!
3. Read it through. But I've already read... Shush! Yes, you
have but this time you're going to read it in a detached and
positively cold-hearted manner. This is really important.
Emotion and affection make your eyes go blind. Imagine you're
Mrs Sneersby the English teacher, who only read you work to
find fault with it. Do the same. Find fault with it like
this...
4. Paragraph faults. Ask yourself, is it too long? Depending on
your audience, today's dumbed-down readers may not cope too
well with paragraphs that take up most of a page, or even half
a page. See if you can split them up. Next, does it really hang
together? Is each component sentence adding something of value
to the whole? Can you remove a sentence and loose nothing of
the meaning and intent of the paragraph? If the answer to this
last question is 'yes' delete the sentence.
5. Sentence faults. Now go back and read each sentence with the
same critical eye. Is each sentence grammatically correct
without being stilted? Have you used five-syllable words when a
two- or three-syllable one would do? Do your narrative lines
flow naturally or do they sound wooden? Have you used too many
'he saids' and 'she saids'? Take some of them out. If you do
take them out can you tell who's talking? O.K. then, substitute
with 'said Dominic', etc.
6. The whole thing. Now that you have a slimmer, healthier
version, hopefully, than the original, read it through one
final time, but this time look to see if there is anything that
you haven't explained fully, or any vital piece of information
you have left out. This isn't a licence to fill the word count
up with drivel, but just make sure the reader is not left in
the dark by a careless omission.
Your publisher and your readers will love you if you follow
these simple steps. I wish you every success with your
writing.
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