WIP Challenge Day 4, Wednesday

[jagnikjen]

Is your weather, wherever you may be, conducive to writing right now???

How did the writing go since last you posted?

~ Awesome
~ Pretty good
~ All right
~ Coulda been better
~ It was pretty rough
~ it didn't

Share any great accomplishments or disappointments--we're here for you either way.


Discussion topic. . . . of those who mentioned wanting to take a writing class, most said an editing class would be the most helpful. I thought maybe we could go over a few things here. . . .

Like over-used words: looked, very, had, as, so, just, well, and, but, and the like. Though sometimes a "that" or a "had" will add to the cadence or flow of your prose, so even though it's not necessary for the meaning of what you say to be clear, it may sound a bit more lyrical. Also, we all have a word or phrase that we personally like to use. Become aware of it and take care with it.

Adverbs: an adverb isn't a red-headed step-child. They have a purpose and place, but overuse of adverbs is generally discouraged in most professional writing organizations. Stronger verbs mean stronger prose.

For example: "She meandered along the garden path." gives us much better visual than "She walked slowly down the path."

Homophones: words that sound the same and may be spelled the same, but mean something different. Classic cases: to, too, two or they're, their, and there. There are huge amount of these.

And beware of "dyslexic words" if you will--where the switching of a pair of letters changes the word. For example: quite and quiet, barely and barley. Spell-check isn't going to catch any of these, or the homophones, if they are actually spelled correctly.

Another way to perform some basic self-editing is to read your work out loud. And I mean out loud. This can help you catch missing words, as well as words or phrases that read awkwardly. If your tongue trips over it, then the reader's eye probably will too. I also use this as a sort of measuring stick if you will (though not really a good metaphor). What I mean is that if I'm reading and my brain automatically supplies a word or phrasing other than what I've written, I will almost always change it. Why? Because if my brain is cruising along and expecting something and it doesn't get it, I'm immediately jarred from the reading. Chances are my reader will be as well. So, unless it's super-important that I keep my original word or phrase I go ahead and change it.

So what other suggestions do you all have for some basic self-editing tasks?

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

I did some quick writing this morning for my 750 words -- I had to leave the house early for a doctor's appointment, so I got up early, but somehow also finished getting ready early. So I thought I'd try doing my words early too. It's all rubbish but since I'm a big believer in writing out the crap, that's all right. :D Doing a bit of editing on various fics now too.

Sometimes if I'm trying to do line-edits I'll read a fic backwards. Not entirely backwards, but I'll read the last paragraph, then the one before that, etc. I think, like reading your writing out loud, it makes my brain see what's there, not what I expect to be there (especially important if it's the 9 millionth time I'm going over a fic).

[jagnikjen]

Great thought on reading it backwards. I have a friend who does that and I'd forgotten about it.

And yay for writing early. I believe in writing through the crap, too. :)

[haruka]

I haven't done anything today yet, but I'm still at work. Tonight for sure!

I had to giggle at an adverb isn't a read-headed step-child considering the context. XD

[jagnikjen]

OMG, I can't believe I did that. Well, it's fixed now. Thanks for mentioning it.

[crowdog66]

This morning I found time to write ~450 words, a key scene from a future chapter of "Ovum", and might be able to fit in a bit more later today if my schedule permits.

All the editing suggestions above are excellent ones. Offhand I can't think of anything else to add.

[jagnikjen]

Awesome job on the words. Good luck on fitting more in. :)

[lacygrey]

Some editing advice Ive found helpful is the idea that you tackle one aspect per re-read, i.e., look at word use on the first go and characterisation the second etc., as a way of not getting bogged down the first time.

I drafted (yet another) little story about the same pairing as its all time and energy would allow. I hope to start editing soon. I'm begining to envy those who never do.

[jagnikjen]

Good suggestion on one thing at a time. Otherwise it's way too much and gets confusing if you try to do too much.

[chickwithstick]

This is really great advice, thank you. My fics and I will both be grateful

[sharpiefan]

Writing?! What writing?!!

*falls over laughing*

(I made a new comm. And posted some of my old stuff to the AO3. Does that count?)

Self-editing... I don't have a beta, though maybe I should. I'm one of those people who finds typos months after posting something and simply has to edit them out. Maybe that's one reason I prefer to role-play on forums, rather than on LJ/DW - you can edit after your post's been replied to on a forum, and you can't on LJ and its ilk.

Other things I do is re-read stuff after posting. Like, right after - not in the dialogue box or on the posting screen, but actually in the comm or journal. It's amazing what pops outs out at you once it's up.

And my favourite ever 'dyslexic word' typo: I was writing a Sharpe fic, about his early years, and had a part where he was lying in a barn after enlisting, and the moonlight found its way through a crack in the door. I had meant to type 'silver ray of light knifed through a crack' or something like that, and got 'a sliver'... and rewrote the rest of the sentence to let it stand as 'sliver' because it was a much more vivid picture that way! :D

[jagnikjen]

I'm not sure what you mean about editing after your post's been replied to. I've never had issues editing a post in my own lj or one of my comments in any comms I've been a member of even if they have comments and replies.

That's very weird.

And looking at something immediately after posting is good too. You DO catch stuff as it now looks different from the way you've looking at it. I do that with my blog.

[sharpiefan]

Editing a post after it's been replied, there are no issues with. Editing a comment before it's been replied to, the same.

But things are set up so that you can't edit a comment once someone's posted a reply to it. And in RP, that'd drive me batty, if I spotted a typo after the thread had gone on for another dozen posts or so, and I couldn't edit my typos out.

(A friend and I have named the Small God of Minor Spelling Errors 'Typos', in the grand old Tery Pratchett tradition, a la Bilious, the Oh My God of Hangovers. :D )

[terabient]

If I'm not on a deadline, I tend to wait a few days before starting on editing once I've written a draft. That helps me look at things more objectively. While I'm writing I tend to worry about every possible misinterpretation a reader could conceivably have, and I end up over-explaining or describing everything, and it really weighs down the piece with unnecessary words. When I've let my mind 'cool' for awhile, I'm in a 'reader' mindset, and less of a overworried 'writer' mindset. ^^

[jagnikjen]

Oh, yes, definitely putting some time distance between you and the work is very very helpful. Good suggestion. :)

[lullabymoon]

Added a couple hundred words to the exchange fic and got it posted!!!!! *dances*

I will admit to my writing motto being 'If in doubt, read it out.' Such a simple thing but it makes my writing so much better. Definitely with you on the over used words but then I do think it all comes back to knowing your writing by reading it out.

Another thing I find handy, though I only do after at least a partial edit, is to change mediums. Mostly that means printing off and going over it with a highlighter, but I often find I edit as I go as I'm typing handwritten stuff up. I find my eyes go over the words differently and I pick up more errors that way.

[jagnikjen]

Congrats!!

[sylvaine]

Wrote a few words today, and did some much-needed editing on a piece I had almost forgotten about. ^^'

That's my strategy for editing, really - edit right after finishing for typos and other easily-spotted mistakes (and add notes to myself if I see something that needs rewriting), leave it lying around for months until I can't remember what I even wrote, then go back and see if it makes any sense. :D

[jagnikjen]

Great strategy. :) Whatever works, right??

[sqweakie]

First time posting. I'm slowly plodding along in my writing, which is still an improvement over the nothing of the past few months. Wrote my first new content on the chapter

Its and It's used to be the bane of my existence. Learned to think contractions out loud as their separate words.

Whenever I edit I try to always do one copy printed out on paper and grab a colored pen. That tangible copy to write on helps me to look at it a little differently, broken up differently than it is on the screen. That way I can also write little notes and keep going on with editing.

[jagnikjen]

Welcome and glad you're writing. A little bit is better than none, so good job.