by Evan J
photo by Evan J
My last article offered advice on why and how to proofread your submission. Now I want to switch to the step before proofreading—editing your work—and offer some tools to help improve your content. Here are three instructions to add to your editing process.
Check for accuracy.
Real objects and lifelike characters can be powerful tools in a narrative. They can draw the reader in through their relatability. But a mistake in this area can completely kill a creative work. So take the time and check all of your names and objects for accuracy and credibility. Watch out for anachronisms. Google everything. If your protagonist is a First Nations Chief from Manitoulin Island, they had better have an Anishinaabe name, not a Dene or Stó:lō one. If your characters are going hunting for moose, they had better bring something bigger than a .22 calibre rifle.
Trim your work.
If you’ve ever taken a writing class, the teacher has probably explained (usually via an inappropriately morbid metaphor) the need to cull the excess content from your work. Some people suggest editing out 5 percent, others say 50 percent. And while I’m not about to throw my hat in the ring with these useless numbers, I do agree that it is a vital step to clean the dirt from your work. For most writers, locating your work’s real meaning takes many tries. We often use writing as a chisel, each written line digging towards that core idea. When we finally reach the core, we have layers of debris—unrelated lines, redundant lines. It can be difficult to delete these lines: maybe they’re a reminder of all the work it took to reach the core, maybe the line concerns some topic that you’re emotionally connected to, or maybe the line just sounds amazing! But in the end, no matter the shape or smell of that dirt, it is still dirt, still an obstruction, and it must be removed. Your readers want and deserve a clear path to your core idea.
Let the work sit unread.
Every time you read through your own work your eyes and brain get used to the order of the words. They stop questioning why you wrote what you wrote, and they start skipping sections without you even noticing. To fix this problem at the editing stage, it’s best to give the work a break. There is, of course, no specified break time for every brain, but the longer you can give it before returning to the work, the better. Deadlines are usually the main restriction that limits how much time you can let a piece sit unread. But as a golden rule, start your writing well before the deadline with the expectation of letting the work sit once or twice before you submit it. I let the first draft of this article sit unread for a week before returning to finish it. For poetry and short fiction, I often let them sit unread for two or three weeks before returning.