Appreciate the Grand View
In his book Rethinking Education, the late Roger J. Williams, Ph.D.,
world-renowned scientist and educator wrote,
"It is conceivable that an
extremely myopic individual might spend a lifetime studying the Grand
Canyon of the Colorado inch by inch and fail utterly to see its
grandeur. Likewise, educators and scholars who are extreme specialists
are myopic and may never see the ‘grand view’ of world knowledge as a
whole. We too often encourage students to study world-knowledge bit by
bit without ever appreciating that it all fits together".
Compose before You Cut and Change
Similarly, when you don’t force your "inner editor" (that editor-in-your
mind) to take a nap when you are writing warm-ups or stories or
articles, you may never see the whole work and how it all fits together.
That eager editor will peruse and pick at every letter, every word,
every sentence, and every paragraph. That editor will scratch out, add,
and rearrange words. Your story or article will start to develop, then
parts--and potentially all--of it will be swept away like the sand
beneath your feet in the rushing tide at the beach. Beginning to write,
then interrupting to inspect, to evaluate, and to rewrite line by line
can destroy a work.
Finish the Piece, Then Put It on Hold
You first must allow your imagination to team up with your writing
skills to produce a piece. If the word length of your story or article
is within a range that you can accomplish during an allotted writing
session and you have the time to write a complete rough draft of your
article or story from start to finish in one sitting, it is a great
advantage to the fine development of your work. Just write, write,
write. Do not edit. If your deadline permits, it also will serve you
well to put your manuscript away for several days to cool your passion
for it.
Finally Invite Your "Inner Editor" to Edit
When you return to read your work, then you must wake "that
editor-in-your mind" and invite that editor to edit. Now that you have
written without evaluating or attacking your work and you have distanced
yourself from your work by putting it on hold for a few days, you have
greater objectivity, and you can read it with greater clarity. Now you
must disown your work for the moment and thoughtfully rid it of as many
flaws as you can. Think of ridding its flaws as a carnival duck shoot.
Bag as many ducks as you can, and take home a teddy bear. In the case of
your story or article, if you polish your ‘on speculation’ piece well
enough, you will win publication and a check from the editor of your
target anthology or magazine.
To Edit Your Own Work
In General--Ask Yourself
Does the title titillate its readers? Is the title suitable to the work
and to its target market? Does your opening sentence grab the reader and
hold attention?
About Your Story--Ask Yourself
Does the theme of your story build logically? Is your story the right
genre for your target market? Will enough readers relate to your story
to want to read it, or is its theme too specialized? Does the story
develop in a believable fashion? Is your setting clear? Is the immediacy
or time limit of your story short enough to make and keep the story
suspenseful? Does the plot of your story unfold dramatically and hold
the reader’s attention? Are your characters well drawn? Can you feel
each character’s pain or joy? Do your characters speak with convincing
dialogue? Are there sufficient conflicts and challenges for the
protagonist to overcome? Do you have an endearing positive supporting
character or characters and an unforgettable antagonist? Is the tone
that you want in your story developed and maintained or changed as you
desired? Does your story have a beginning, a middle, and an end? Does
your story impact the reader? Does your story linger in the mind of the
reader?
About Your Article--Ask Yourself
Are there sufficient eager readers who want to learn about your topic,
or is it so specialized that only 14 people across the planet would have
any interest in it?
In other words, is the sale of your article supported by a market
willing to purchase the magazine? Is the slant of your article an
appropriate one for your target market? Are your points organized in a
meaningful order? Does your work flow? Are your transitions smooth? Are
your points well substantiated? Do you use too many words to make your
points? Do you use the best words to convey your meaning? Is your
message sharply focused, or do you wander and add extraneous information
that perhaps is enchanting to you but is intrusive in the particular
work in question? Do you offer enough new and useful information to
merit publication? Does your conclusion wrap up your article well?
Finally, ask yourself, have you entertained, surprised, astonished, or
informed your reader with the information in your article?
The Proper Time and Place
Editing is important, but there is a time and place for it. It must not
come too soon. Editing too soon is like weeding a garden before its
tender sprouts are distinguishable from new weeds in freshly turned
soil. Good plants can be killed with ill-timed weeding. Good stories
and articles can be destroyed with ill-timed editing. When the garden is
established--when the pea plants are clearly pea plants and corn plants
or clearly corn plants--then the weeding can be done to the betterment
of the entire garden. Likewise, you must allow yourself to develop your
story or article to see its overall "landscape" before you begin to
evaluate, eliminate, or rearrange material. The more you are able to do
this, the better your stories and articles will be in their final
polished forms. Given time to warm-up, time to write, time to cool down,
and distance to gain clarity before editing, the grander the view of
your final work will be.
Happy editing!
