Adventures In Sweatpants

Why is editing so hard?

Sometimes I dread editing my writing. Honestly, I get so afraid I’ll discover my writing is awful and want to give up. Also, I’m never sure what to cut and what to keep. But, I’m getting better. After a bit of soul-searching and more than one writing class, I’m learning not to judge myself so harshly and to look forward to editing my work. I hope sharing my experience will help others with similar feelings of uncertainty.

Everyone Needs An Editor

This is just a fact. I don’t care how good you are or how many times you’ve been published, every writer needs an editor. No one is Shakespeare right out of the gate, not even The Bard himself. I wish I had taken this truth to heart much sooner. It was so freeing when I finally embraced it. I didn’t need to agonize over every paragraph of my rough draft, I just let go. Fix it later. That’s the beauty of editing and it was a complete shift in thinking for me.

If It Doesn’t Serve The Story, Get Rid Of It

When writing rough drafts, we’re just getting ideas onto the page. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve felt like I was in the zone and then gone back the next day and realized a third of what I wrote can go. It’s ok. It doesn’t mean you can’t write. In fact, I think learning what to cut has made me a much better writer in the long run.

I went to a class recently where the Professor broke down Kurt Vonnegut’s rules for writing. Number four really struck home. He said:

“Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action.”

No matter how pretty the prose if it doesn’t reveal character or advance the action, I cut it. Or I try to. I’m not perfect, but it has been an invaluable guiding principle for my editing process.

Find Someone You Trust To Be Your Beta Reader

What’s a beta reader?

A beta reader is a person you trust to read your work and give honest feedback. Catching all of the errors in your work is almost impossible. After all, you already know what you’re trying to say. It is helpful to have someone coming to the text blind, without preconceptions. I am finding, that the less I tell a reader beforehand the more valuable their insight is to me because everything they derive from the story comes solely from the text, not from what I’ve explained to them. 

Beta readers are also helpful in allowing you to get accustomed to the vulnerability that comes with having people read your work. It’s intimidating to pour your heart and soul onto the page and then hand it over to someone else to take it apart. Finding a person you trust to help you through this process is crucial.

Don’t get discouraged. It’s OK to make mistakes.

Give yourself some grace. Mistakes happen. This is as true in writing as it is in life. Letting go of our fear allows us to take risks and taking risks with a story can have big rewards. And remember, unlike life, when they don’t pay off you can always delete them. The more I’ve learned to let go the better my writing has become. That doesn’t mean I don’t come up with some bad ideas occasionally, but I’m more forgiving of myself when I do. 

I’ve learned a lot about myself through writing. I’m still learning every day I sit down in front of my computer. I’d love to know what you’ve learned about yourself, or about editing more generally through writing. If you are willing to share, I’ll be here, ready to take notes.