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On Writing With publishing houses focusing more on the bottom line and agents booked beyond capacity, the days when an author could be mentored by people in the know has passed. Now more than ever authors must be able to revise their work until it is inches away from the printing press. While the skills of writing and editing are often thought to be the same, each requires a different approach. They are, in fact, as different as the two sides of your brain. Say Hello to Your Brain We’ve all heard the term “writing is rewriting.” That is, the mess that pours out of a writer’s head on that first frantic, wonderful pass is as wild and free as the creative flow. Its unstructured nature is where the ripeness of a story is discovered, where the buds are set, where the seeds are sewn. The right side of the brain, where creativity and intuition reside, is responsible for this irrepressible loveliness. However, the rough draft is just that...rough and tangled, and greatly in need of structure. Fortunately authors possess the left brain, the seat of logic and analytical thinking. As contrary as it sounds to the creative nature of a writer’s world, the left brain guides the rewriting process. It is like the gardener who thins the young plants, culls excess buds, and ensures that only the best fruit comes to harvest. What’s already obvious is that it takes a whole brain to build a fresh, cohesive narrative flow. But what isn’t so obvious is that combining these functions can adversely impact your writing. The spark that fuels imagination and the flow of a nonfiction book’s narrative can be squelched by critical thoughts that appear too soon. Analytical judgment used during rewriting of all writing projects can be muddied by a muse who doesn’t know when to fly away. The hemispheres of your brain are physically separated by a thin membrane. The author must separate the different thought processes as revisions continue. No matter whether you write fiction, creative nonfiction, stories or academic texts, creating the mental space for a clean initial flow is different than summoning the analytical process needed for rewriting. Two Children, One Crib Understanding the psychology of creative (or first draft) versus critical (or revision) work can increase your efficiency. The creative side includes the original inspiration, formulating the plot or outline, and putting something down on paper. While you are writing, the plot, sequence of events, or even the ending may change. These changes are driven by the bubbling in your head as characters come alive and events are recorded. During this stage, the editor must be kept at bay. Muses tend to be sensitive creatures. Writer’s block is often nothing more than editorial, or right-brain, thinking at an inappropriate time. Eventually the story draws to a close, the killer is unveiled, and the heroine is married into lifelong bliss. Congratulations. Go get a foot rub. The break will recharge your energy and give you time to mentally switch gears. The author, temporarily at least, retires. Enter Thursday’s child, the editor. While typos and dangling participles are part of this process, writers will revise more efficiently by following a step-down approach. First examine the larger elements, the structure inherent to the work. Consider how organization, scene content, narrative flow and character development affect the manuscript as a whole. If the author let a few things slide in the interest of capturing the wild thoughts on paper, the editor pinpoints these flaws. Notes written into the margins are an effective way to make the editor’s changes. Your notes may include questions about a character’s history, the need for more descriptive detail, or better scene transitions. The editor imposes structure and organization. The author then returns to create new text based on the editor’s notes. A break between the analytical work and the rewriting can be helpful here as well. Some authors skip a day or more between types of work, while those who are more practiced might write in the morning, break for lunch, then edit in the afternoon. Several structural-level edits may be required. As you work, remain focused on the overall aspects: does the sequence of events flow well? Is the language and point of view the best for this type of story? Is each character developed enough to fill his or her function? Forget about grammar and punctuation for now. The kinds of changes you’re making are far removed from such fine details, and your workload will double if you try to fix everything at once. Once the storyline has been molded into a cohesive creature, then you can move on. Learning to Walk The next level of editing tightens your focus. You were looking at the creature as a whole; now you examine individual limbs. Scrutinize transitions between chapters, organization and flow within chapters, scenic development, shifts in tone and narrative voice, and plot mechanisms. The opening that generates sales and the conclusion that satisfies your audience are crucial. Fix every error in the beginning and ending, no matter how small. Zoom in to look at the fingers and toes. Target unclear narration, excess dialog and awkward wording. Then consider the cells: correct grammar, shorten run-on sentences, hunt down tense errors. Eliminate repetitive words and phrases, substitute action verbs for passive ones, cut adjectives, and change gerunds (words ending in -ing) to stronger verb forms. Finally, nitpick your way right down to the atoms and proofread for spelling and punctuation. Lots of work? You bet. But stepping down through various levels reduces the overall workload. If you polish the grammar before you discover that the beginning of your story really belongs in the middle, you’ll have to do a lot of rewriting. As writing usually requires polishing, you’ll just make more work for yourself. Try this method with your next story or book. If all goes well, you just might publish ahead of schedule. WGOT member, Laine Cunningham, is the sole owner and operator of a free-lance editorial service that serves fellow authors in North Carolina and around the world. She can be reached at inkimp@earthlink.net.
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