Post by Brittney Basye on Jul 9, 2014 15:07:53 GMT -6
I've always had a problem editing, never could quite ripe out the soul of my own writing. I would have my friends and family look things over for me but they could never truly tell me what was wrong. I love my family, but they lack guts sometimes. This meant I was going to have to learn how to edit all on my own. Here are some tips I've picked up through teachers, myself, and the world wide web.
1. Print off your writing in a different font and size. While you were writing it your brain got used to that as your writing, it thinks everything was perfect the first time. Changing something as simple as the font will trick your brain into thinking it's a whole new story.
2. Invest in some colored pens. I HATE using red pens on my work, it makes me feel like I'm in 5th grade having my papers attacked all over again. So instead I uses what ever color pen I can get my hands on, purple is my favorite. This way, it's still different from the black ink I used to write it, but I don't have a huge "YOU SUCK" written in red ink all over my work.
3. Reading your own writing is like drinking a good wine, give it time to breath. While I've never liked wine, rather it breaths or not, I do agree you need to put space in between you and your work. If your short on a deadline this might not be easy, take a short coffee break if you can. But if your a freelance poet like myself you have a lot of time. Set it aside for at least one day. I try to wait a week, that way it's like I'm reading something new all over again.
4. Read it out loud, and maybe even in a funny voice. Reading it aloud sets a different part of your brain into motion. This gives you a whole to look on your work. Change anything that might sound funny or that you might stumble over while reading. The funny voice is just to add some humor to your life.
5. Remove the word very. Please! This word makes it look like you couldn't come up with something better. If they are very confused, use discombobulated. (My all time favorite word.) If the are very mad, use furious! There is never a good reason to use the word very. If you need help with this there are tons of websites online just for this word.
Those are just a few of the many many tips out there to help you edit your work. I hope this helps and Happy Writing!
1. Print off your writing in a different font and size. While you were writing it your brain got used to that as your writing, it thinks everything was perfect the first time. Changing something as simple as the font will trick your brain into thinking it's a whole new story.
2. Invest in some colored pens. I HATE using red pens on my work, it makes me feel like I'm in 5th grade having my papers attacked all over again. So instead I uses what ever color pen I can get my hands on, purple is my favorite. This way, it's still different from the black ink I used to write it, but I don't have a huge "YOU SUCK" written in red ink all over my work.
3. Reading your own writing is like drinking a good wine, give it time to breath. While I've never liked wine, rather it breaths or not, I do agree you need to put space in between you and your work. If your short on a deadline this might not be easy, take a short coffee break if you can. But if your a freelance poet like myself you have a lot of time. Set it aside for at least one day. I try to wait a week, that way it's like I'm reading something new all over again.
4. Read it out loud, and maybe even in a funny voice. Reading it aloud sets a different part of your brain into motion. This gives you a whole to look on your work. Change anything that might sound funny or that you might stumble over while reading. The funny voice is just to add some humor to your life.
5. Remove the word very. Please! This word makes it look like you couldn't come up with something better. If they are very confused, use discombobulated. (My all time favorite word.) If the are very mad, use furious! There is never a good reason to use the word very. If you need help with this there are tons of websites online just for this word.
Those are just a few of the many many tips out there to help you edit your work. I hope this helps and Happy Writing!
