E is for Editing

I'm an avid reader. I read as much as possible. Sometimes to the extent that I've had less of a life because of it at times (a testament to the writer, who has written a gripping book!). 

There are countless times when I've turned the pages breathlessly, however, only for the ending to cheat me (and no doubt, thousands of others). Sometimes deus ex machina (a highly improbably event that conveniently wraps everything up) has been the culprit. Others the cavalry coming over the hill have been responsible. Then there are the factual books in which the conclusions haven't fitted the facts. 

It's all very frustrating. Those are hours of your life you'll never get back. 

But why does it bother us so much? What's behind it? Poor editing, that's what.  

How to edit

To be a good writer you have to be a good editor. Those aren't just my words: they're the words of the world's most famous copywriter, David Ogilvy, a man who did some serious selling back in the day.

Of course, being a good editor is easier said than done. Where do you start? 

Be objective
Editing is about honesty. Be objective. Is what you've written really any good, or are you just trying to make the word count? If it seems like a load of rubbish, it may well seem like it to others too, so take it out. 

If you can't decide, ask yourself: 'Would I be embarrassed to show this to a client or publisher?' If the answer's yes, you know what you need to do.

One other trick is to observe whether you're feeling smug and showing your work to everyone in the office, trying to give others a laugh. The part you love the most is normally the part that has to go. 

Ask if it makes sense
Take a look at your draft. Do the pieces fit together? Do the events happen in a logical order, or does something within the text feel out of place? Is everything you've written plausible? If there's something in there that's tenuous or doesn't fit, take it out. It's weakening the text. 

This is especially so with the conclusion. Check you're not drifting into deus ex machina territory. Remember the Stephen King novel Misery and how psychotic bibliophile Annie Wilkes went beserk about the ending of a novel? Endings should be fair to the reader.

Delete the first paragraph
Just like you don't start exercising without warming up first, you don't in writing. The first paragraph get our thoughts flowing and our fingers bashing away at the keyboard. Read it at the end of the piece and you'll find it rambles on aimlessly, struggling to find its path. You may even find that it has nothing to do with the rest of what you've written. Chop it out. You'll see how your writing suddenly becomes tighter. 

Cut out the fluff
Are you getting to the point, or are you saying more than what needs to be said? Is what you've written adding value to the text, or is it simply surplus? If it does nothing for the text, get rid of it. 

Cutting out fluff is important, especially in the day and age of emails, in which everyone feels more hurried than they used to. They don't feel as if they have the time to wade through a forest of words. If you're writing a novel, your words should be valuable. They should help carry events forward. Even if they're just reading for pleasure, readers won't hang around forever to find out what happens (at least I don't). They've taken the time to start reading your novel. Reward them with some plot and character development, not pages of filler.

For me, the king of plot development is crime fiction writer James Ellroy. It's only once you get to the end of his novels, twist after twist after twist, that you realise he was already starting the conclusion halfway through the novel. Fantastic!

These are just a few tips on the mighty art of editing. Like any other, it's a skill and isn't something you just develop overnight. It takes time and plenty of writing. If you've got any editing tips you'd like to share with me, I'd love to hear them. Meanwhile, if not, then happy scribbling, and until we meet again in F is for... 

Write Life

Write life
Write a diary.
Write a covering letter. 
Write to your family.
Write a love letter; how you can taste flowers when you kiss them.
Write a forgive me letter; how you're so messed up you don't who you are without them.
Write a break-up letter; how it's not them, it's you.
Write about change. 
Write about today's generation; how it's lost but can be found.  
Write about your dreams; how one day you'll make it and then write about how you did it.
Write to your friends; thank them for being there. 
Write about the good times; how you'd give anything to return. 
Write about the bad times; bury the memories.
Write about the future.
Write to your workmates; they helped you to the top.
Write about retirement.
Write about your kids; the story of their first word.
Write about strangers.
Write about singledom; the pleasures and sorrows of freedom. 
Write about travel, of seeing the wonders of the world.
Write about music.
Write about books.
Write about writing.
Write life.

D is for Daily

You may recall when I first started this series just a few weeks ago, I gave a brief account of the different types of writing I'd done. From writing blog posts and copywriting professionally to bearing my soul in love letters... it was all in there. It was all writing in one form or another.

More than that, though, they were examples of how the everyday world can present us with opportunities to write. Further ones include office emails, text messages, personal emails, reports, comments on Facebook, tweets on Twitter, blog posts, selling stuff on eBay, reviewing purchases on Amazon and applying for jobs.

Practice makes perfect, so even if it's something trivial like an email you should try to write every day if you can. It all helps. It doesn't always have to be something that you'll publish, not by a long shot. Just write. The more you write, the better you'll get; the better you get, the easier you can connect with the reader, make them feel something special. Ah the power of words... *sigh*

Don't think of writing as a chore (especially not the love letters!). Do it out of love. Brighten up your prose, not bash out boilerplate. Polish your punctuation instead of making your reader join the dots - or rather, the commas and full stops. Get a grip on your grammar and spoil the pedants' fun! 

If I were a nutritionist, I'd tell you to eat five pieces of fruit and veg a day (not including Wine Gums and mince pies) to stay healthy. Fortunately for you, I'm a blogger, so I'm suggesting that you write something at least once per day instead.  

This will keep your writing in good health. Not only that, it will keep your mind so too, which, in the binge drinking age, is definitely something to write home about!