We're coming to the end of our short story month here on the blog, which means that we're going to touch on what happens when you're done writing. Yes, it's time to talk about editing, which some writers like and some writers dread. I like and dread it, so here's my top three tips for editing.
1. If you can, put it away for a few days before reading it again. It gives you time to have some fresh eyes and a bit of a break. Sometimes breaks are good things and you come back to see all the problems in your story. Identifying those problems help you to edit them which makes your story even better.
2. When editing, read your story out loud and change where you say something different than is on the page. It's going to be a bit silly but, really, you're going to catch where you have a grammar or plot mistake easier this way. Also, you can hear your dialogue and go "wait, I didn't mean that" and be able to go back and change it.
3. If you have willing friends and time, ask someone to read it over for you. Just remember that their edits come from a place of wanting to help - after all, they're your friends - and the edits will make your writing better. Also, they might have noticed something you missed.
What tips do you guys have that I might have missed? Do you feel these will help you or hurt you in editing your story? Feel free to leave comments below and, until next time, keep on writing. Or editing!
No comments:
Post a Comment