🛠️ Self-editing
🛠️ Revising and Editing
The Writer’s Lament
“I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”
Variously attributed to: Blaise Pascal, John Locke, Benjamin Franklin, Henry David Thoreau, Cicero, Oscar Wilde, Woodrow Wilson, Mark Twain
Your First Draft
Get everything in…”but the kitchen sink” approach
Don’t worry if it makes sense, or you have too much, too little, or things that need review/check sources.
A (tiny) example of edited work
Publication: New York Times Modern Love Tiny Love Stories
First draft
Title: A Horse Affair
We stood tall (though she stood much taller), with our eyes locked and loaded. A true western-style standoff between me (amateur cowboy) and her horse. She was the only one that didn’t like me and I was going to make her like me. “It doesn’t have to be like this,” I thought. There were so many things I could teach her, open up to the ways I could feed her and take care of her. All I wanted was for her to be happy. But every time I reached my hands out she’d back away and huff. Fine. If you want to be like that, be like that. It wasn’t until I finally let go of my compulsion to be liked that she dipped her nose down, touched my hand, and sighed.
Final (published)�
Title: A Cowgirl and Her Horse
In a movie, a twangy guitar riff would’ve played. I was a long-time lone ranger grappling with debilitating social anxiety after moving across the world. She was a sandy-haired Palomino mare who became a therapist for traumatized veterans. The kicker was that she, herself, had previously suffered prolonged abuse, becoming averse to human touch. We stood tall, eyes locked and loaded. The more I wrangled for her to like me, the further she cantered away. Then, one night, I rested my forearms behind the fence, and she approached me, for the first time, dipping her nose to press my palm.
🛠️ Professional editing in five steps
Time Management
Do you give equal time to each?
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
�🧠1. Content �
Attuned to audience & purpose?
Focused on what’s likely to engage
Consistent voice and tone: Conversational!
Enough detail: show, don’t tell
Place for narrative: historic storyline, quote
🧠 Content questions from the point of view of your audience
🗂️ 2. Structure! (Paragraph level)�
--Toni Morrison
Is your pace consistent?
Check the middle. That’s where most content bogs down.
Typically, strive for a lively pace. Readers’ attention spans are short —short —short.
🛠️ Number one trick for structural editing
Use your voice
✏️ 3. Line editing
Adding creative, stylistic devices to help with pacing, rhythm
ALLITERATION-Repeating sound at the beginning of 2 or more words in a string:
“Powerful politicians are polluting the environment.”
ASSONANCE & CONSONANCE -Repeating sound in the middle of 2 or more words in a string:
“The pace of the race was the fastest ever.”
ANTITHESIS-Contrast using the form of not X but Y.
“Ask not for what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”
“Christ was benevolent; Christ was intimidating. Christ was black, Christ was white. How his appearance changed over time.”
PARALLELISM or PARALLEL STRUCTURE- Using similar structure for clauses within sentences, or similar structure and sounds for the start of multiple sentences.
The reunification of a divided Egypt under one pharaoh stands as the hallmark for ushering in a new period of prosperity in Egyptian history. However, during the Late Period, Egypt had to contend with the pressures of other civilizations from Nubia, the Mediterranean, and the Near East, which exerted their influence in novel ways. During this period, the Egyptian rulers and elites crafted their identities by both reviving ancient traditions and adapting to a new cosmopolitan reality. Explore 8th and 7th century BCE at a moment when Egypt’s hallowed institutions innovated in the face of great turbulence and change.
Monday, May 19 Egypt in Transition: Renaissance and the Onset of the Late Period
Dynamic Vocabulary
🔊 passive voice
Robust writing uses the active voice.
In other words, passive voice is not used as much by strong writers.
🔊 Active Voice
With active voice the subject of the sentence performs or causes the action.
For Example:
Dr. Bandi delighted the audience with jokes about ancient Egypt.
Vs.
The audience was delighted by Dr. Bandi’s jokes about ancient Egypt.
📝 Marie Kondo your writing
Clean up your clutter!
And turn�This
FIRST DRAFT
FINAL!
Words or phrases on repeat
The research team categorized weight-related conversations and approaches parents used. Positive comments included respect for a diversity of body shapes and sizes and a broader approach to the concept of beauty. In negative discussions, parents focused on attractiveness based on a thin-beauty ideal or were critical of their child’s weight.
Excessive info or�Word pile-ups
To:
�Unnecessary details
.
Before: After watching the videos, the survey participants were then asked a series of questions, which the researchers then analyzed. These questions usually requested the participants to rate how amused or anxious they felt while watching the videos on a scale of 1 (not at all) to 7 (very much.)
After: The participants rated videos based on how anxious or amused they felt while viewing them.
Read out loud
Nothing improves your ability to edit superfluous material than reading your own words.
�PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!
🔍 4. Copy edit
✅ 5. Proofread!
Last but not least….