Creative Writers Use 8 Editing Steps to Perfection
http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitepublisher/articles/246/1/Creative-Writers-Use-8-Editing-Steps-to-Perfection/Page1.html
Deborah Owen
Ms. Deb, as her students affectionately call her, is the CEO & Founder of Creative Writing Institute, and the former A-1 Writing Academy (now defunct).
"The A-1 Academy was a pilot program built within the virtual walls of a large writer's group," said Deborah. "In the first year we drew 600 students, but I wanted to reach the public. In another year Creative Writing Institute was created. It is a high-quality, low cost writing school with full-time mentors and small classes. Even distressed students and seniors can afford our prices."
Creative Writing Institute now partners with http://bookpleasures.com to bring the best and most up-to-date information available to creative writers everywhere. Check out the new school by Clicking Here.
By Deborah Owen
Published on December 27, 2008
Creative writers – don't wait to edit your work until you know every word by heart – learn to edit the easy way Do you know what to look for in editing?
Creative writers – don't wait to edit your work until you know every word by heart – learn to edit the easy way. Do you know what to look for in editing? Have you wondered what should stay and what should go? By the time you read this article, you will know the answers to these questions.
·One of the first things to look for is prepositional phrases. You can identify prepositions easily. They are: in, on, at, to, for, under, before. Prepositional phrases usually tell when or where, such as: "I will meet you in the after life," or "He told his daughter to go into the house." You should never have more than three prepositional phrases to a sentence, and preferably only two.
· Watch for wordiness, also known as verbiage. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines verbiage as "profusion of words, usually of little or obscure content". In other words, excess words that say nothing. Cut your sentences until they bleed. Chop your descriptions down to that which relates directly to the scene, and leave nothing but the most necessary meat.
·You would think it would be unnecessary to mention using the spellchecker, but you would be surprised how many writers fail to use this most valuable tool. However, don't totally rely on it. If you use the word "right" instead of "write", or "blew" instead of "blue", it will not catch the error. To be safe, scan for errors after you use the spellchecker.
· Look for inappropriate punctuation. Be sure your quotations are closed. Use hyphens and colons properly. Don't use a semi-colon when a comma will do. Be sure to use commas properly, ie., to separate two clauses in a compound sentence, between city and state, etc.
· Check that your order of events is stated properly. Unless you are doing a flashback, you will only confuse the reader if you switch back and forth within a given time frame.
· Watch for tense changes. If you begin in past tense, the entire story must be written in past tense, with one possible exception. The only time you can properly change tenses is in dialog, and that is because people normally speak in present, past and future tenses.
· One of the most important parts of editing is dousing all forms of the verb "to be", which would be "is", "am", "are", "was", "were", "be", "being" and "been". These are "dead" verbs that say nothing. According to Wikipedia, allowed forms are: become, has, have, had, I've, you've, do, does, doing, did, can, could, will, would, shall, should, ought, may, might and must. The fact that they are allowed, however, does not make them desirable. Get rid of as many of these as possible. They weaken your work.
· Check every verb in every sentence and see if you can replace is with a jazzy verb. This is the finishing touch that will make your work glow.
So when you edit, watch for these eight things. The end result will be crisp, easy-to-understand writing that is stuffed with meat. What reader can resist that?
·One of the first things to look for is prepositional phrases. You can identify prepositions easily. They are: in, on, at, to, for, under, before. Prepositional phrases usually tell when or where, such as: "I will meet you in the after life," or "He told his daughter to go into the house." You should never have more than three prepositional phrases to a sentence, and preferably only two.
· Watch for wordiness, also known as verbiage. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines verbiage as "profusion of words, usually of little or obscure content". In other words, excess words that say nothing. Cut your sentences until they bleed. Chop your descriptions down to that which relates directly to the scene, and leave nothing but the most necessary meat.
·You would think it would be unnecessary to mention using the spellchecker, but you would be surprised how many writers fail to use this most valuable tool. However, don't totally rely on it. If you use the word "right" instead of "write", or "blew" instead of "blue", it will not catch the error. To be safe, scan for errors after you use the spellchecker.
· Look for inappropriate punctuation. Be sure your quotations are closed. Use hyphens and colons properly. Don't use a semi-colon when a comma will do. Be sure to use commas properly, ie., to separate two clauses in a compound sentence, between city and state, etc.
· Check that your order of events is stated properly. Unless you are doing a flashback, you will only confuse the reader if you switch back and forth within a given time frame.
· Watch for tense changes. If you begin in past tense, the entire story must be written in past tense, with one possible exception. The only time you can properly change tenses is in dialog, and that is because people normally speak in present, past and future tenses.
· One of the most important parts of editing is dousing all forms of the verb "to be", which would be "is", "am", "are", "was", "were", "be", "being" and "been". These are "dead" verbs that say nothing. According to Wikipedia, allowed forms are: become, has, have, had, I've, you've, do, does, doing, did, can, could, will, would, shall, should, ought, may, might and must. The fact that they are allowed, however, does not make them desirable. Get rid of as many of these as possible. They weaken your work.
· Check every verb in every sentence and see if you can replace is with a jazzy verb. This is the finishing touch that will make your work glow.
So when you edit, watch for these eight things. The end result will be crisp, easy-to-understand writing that is stuffed with meat. What reader can resist that?