No. I am not here to answer the age old question as to why a raven is like a writing desk. Simply put, I don't know. Do you? I have heard the theories. But I digress. Today I would like to discuss: Editing is similar to refurbishing a writing desk. Late last year I decided that I needed a new writing desk. Being on a tight budget, I looked around in the local op shops and finally found a timber desk with bookshelves for $10. Yay! I was so excited. It had good ‘bones.’ I could imagine what it would look like with a new stain and varnish; the drawers with fancy new handles; the bookshelves lined with children’s picture books… and one day... my own books. It was all so glistening and shining and looking wonderful... in my mind. Yes, there were stickers to be peeled off. Lots of stickers. Someone at some point had decided that boring holes in the top of the desk was a good idea, as well as gouging out a nice big hole on the edge of the desk. There were many scratches and imperfections. So I set to work.
Now to the bit where doing up a writing desk is like editing.
You’ve finished your first draft of your manuscript. You step back and take a good hard look at it. Ahh! There are some plot holes, some characters that need work. And what’s this? The pivotal scene that you thought you wrote is not even in there, or it just doesn’t seem to fit anymore. Whole entire chapters could be taken out and no-one would even know. Some things don’t flow logically. There may be too much back story in a huge dumped on the unsuspecting reader. Point of View is all over the place. Awkward sentences, to many adjectives. Oh boy! There is a lot of work to be to done.
I read up a lot about the editing process. I have also been taught different methods. In fact, everyone is different and does different things at different times. I suppose you do what works for you. I seem to use a combination of techniques for different projects. And I am still learning. By the way, I have dyslexia, so I am pretty sure, that, though I have gone over this a few times, there will be spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. (If you find any, please let me know by emailing me). Here, here, and here are some links to more editing tips that I have discovered. Happy editing!
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