Yes, I’m a day late. Yes, you may all tease me about it. So, next entry on my list is the next step after your first draft. Editing. It’s essential, it’s the core process that makes any writing great. The first draft is for word vomitting, the second is if you want to be fancy and have lots of time and motiviation; editing is where we refine it.
I use a simple trick to ensure my writing works well, and I’m gonna share it with you now.
Read it. Out loud. Go on, read your fic. Not in your head, say the words with your disgusting human mouths. Does it sound off? Weird? Stilted? Good, now you know what to change. Fix it. Yes, the process is a little strange, I know. I know. Do it anyway.
Trust.
Trust!
Our brains are really good at catching unexpected or slightly off things. Think about tasting if food is a little off, or notice something misplaced in your home. This is that, but for reading/writing. Trust your gut. You got this.
Okay, So What Else?
This post totally isn’t being hastily thrown together while I’m in VC with my friends. But I’m doing my best here. Let’s go over some other tips and tricks to edit your first draft into something incredible.
The first and obviously easiest is to spell words correctly. Don’t be afraid to use a spellchecker, there’s absolutely no shame in that. Plus you’ll probably learn how to spell the words you struggle with!
Do not use contractions like “u” or “ur”. It looks unprofessional and might turn off readers. I know it’s quicker, but trust me, the extra effort is worth it.
So… let’s talk about pronouns.
Figure 1: A dumb joke at a moron’s expense
This is only an issue if you’re writing any same-gender pairings or groups, but it’s one people stumble on a lot. How to use pronouns in a scene where two people of the same gender are kissin’… or doing something else I guess, if you’re boring.
So, what’s the issue with two people of the same gender in a scene? Well…
“Because, I fucking hate your guts.” She sneered, kicking the trashed figurine back towards her. She stooped to grab the pieces, distraught at the brutalization of her mom’s last gift to her. She grit her teeth, this bitch needs to pay.
Now. WHO IN THE FUCK AM I TALKING ABOUT?! Who’s saying what? Is there one character in this scene or two? Or are they the same body with two personalities? This is the pronoun problem. Because of how our language works, using pronouns can make your prose more confusing and muddled. However, there are a few fixes.
Fix 1: Context – Injecting a little context into the prose can easily clear up who’s who.
“Because, I fucking hate your guts Gideon.” She sneered, kicking the trashed figurine back towards her. She stooped to grab the pieces Harrow had scattered, distraught at the brutalization of her mom’s last gift to her. She grit her teeth, this bitch needs to pay.
You see how adding two words has cleared up a lot of the confusion? But this isn’t perfect, it can still be a little muddy. The reader has to use a lot of brain power to decipher the identity’s of each she. Let’s make it even clearer.
Fix 2: USE NAMES OMG SERIOUSLY IT’S THAT EAS– Honestly, it’s that fucking simple. Just use names. Just replace the pronouns with their names. It’s fine. It’s not an issue. This goes for ‘says‘ too, you cannot use them too much. Let’s observe.
“Because, I fucking hate your guts.” Harrow sneered, kicking the trashed figurine back towards Gideon. She stooped to grab the pieces, distraught at the brutalization of her mom’s last gift to her. She grit her teeth, this bitch needs to pay.
With these two easy additions, the entire paragraph is now perfectly legible. We’re in Gideon’s POV, and Harrow has destroyed a prized figurine. It’s pretty easy to get lost in the sauce and accidentally confuse the scene. But thankfully, it’s just as easy to fix!
Last bit of piecemeal advice is this, beware of tense changes. It’s a common pitfall for beginners to switch between past and present tense in their writing. an example being, Luz leapt up the stairs like the wind. She throws it open and looks in. Fix it if it’s happened, and avoid it if you can.
One More Thing
Hey, in case y’all need a reminder: your stuff doesn’t have to be perfect. Just do your best and post it! You’ll get better as you go, promise <3
Sorry for the less organized post, I’ll do better next week. We’re gonna start getting into the more technical, nitty gritty stuff in the coming weeks. So look forward to that!
Have fun, be safe, and write something today will ya?
Until next time <3
Leave a Reply