Editing Information
Read some advice on how to edit your stories at the Blood-red Pencil Blog, which receives contributions from a group of editors and writers. It is a very helpful source of information on writing.
You can never have too much of such practical advice. There is this great process called "editing yourself into print". Editors always appreciate work that looks polished, especially in the context of literary journals where the publishable work is selected by editorial committees who vote on which works to include. Often, these editors have no time to make or suggest editorial changes. They hare dealing with hundreds of entries, a good number of which is already polished.
Here is the approach I am using as I re-read my old manuscripts:
1. Approach the story like an enemy
2. Look for things that are wrong with the story
3. Don't trust the sentences that look and sound beautiful; language can be a wicked, and some words cannot be trusted with the duty of conveying meaning.
4. Watch out for those long, complex sentences; recast them in their simplest form to see what they mean exactly. One of my favorite writers, William Faulkner, has these exhausting sentences, especially in the novel Absalom! Absalom!, but you begin to enjoy them if you recognize the simplicity that's buried in the sentences' honest intention to convey the "sad" story of Faulkner's South. As you can see, you can use long sentences, but don't get so tangled up in these long contructions that you sacrifice meaning. Ok, maybe meaning is an indeterminate concept, but don't let the message get lost in piles phrases, clauses and winding constructions.
5. But don't edit yourself out of style. If you break rules intentionally, then have a good understanding of the rules you are breaking. Your readers will notice. Unless you are trying to prove a point that there is no consistency, make sure that in breaking established rules, you are making your own rules which are consistent and predictable.
You can never have too much of such practical advice. There is this great process called "editing yourself into print". Editors always appreciate work that looks polished, especially in the context of literary journals where the publishable work is selected by editorial committees who vote on which works to include. Often, these editors have no time to make or suggest editorial changes. They hare dealing with hundreds of entries, a good number of which is already polished.
Here is the approach I am using as I re-read my old manuscripts:
1. Approach the story like an enemy
2. Look for things that are wrong with the story
3. Don't trust the sentences that look and sound beautiful; language can be a wicked, and some words cannot be trusted with the duty of conveying meaning.
4. Watch out for those long, complex sentences; recast them in their simplest form to see what they mean exactly. One of my favorite writers, William Faulkner, has these exhausting sentences, especially in the novel Absalom! Absalom!, but you begin to enjoy them if you recognize the simplicity that's buried in the sentences' honest intention to convey the "sad" story of Faulkner's South. As you can see, you can use long sentences, but don't get so tangled up in these long contructions that you sacrifice meaning. Ok, maybe meaning is an indeterminate concept, but don't let the message get lost in piles phrases, clauses and winding constructions.
5. But don't edit yourself out of style. If you break rules intentionally, then have a good understanding of the rules you are breaking. Your readers will notice. Unless you are trying to prove a point that there is no consistency, make sure that in breaking established rules, you are making your own rules which are consistent and predictable.
Comments