#self-editing

[adhamabbas]

We're so quick to cut away pieces of ourselves to suit a particular relationship, a job, a circle of friends, incessantly editing who we are until we fit in.

[choicesficwriterscreations]

30-Day Writing Challenge - Day 24

Please answer in comments or via reblog. For a list of all previously posted questions, click here.

[lnk-and-lnspiration]

The Importance of Revisions: Tips for Improving Your Writing

Writing is a creative process that requires dedication, skill, and the willingness to revise and improve. While the initial draft of a piece may capture the essence of your ideas, it is through the process of revisions that your writing truly comes to life. Revisions allow you to refine your work, polish your prose, and ensure that your message is effectively communicated to your readers. In this…

[teaboot]

Yeah Mr. Darcy’s proposal was a complete turd and a half but you gotta understand. You got your life together. A good career, stable income, retirement plan, all that shit together. And you meet this girl. And she’s everything. Clever, outspoken, funny, calls you on your bullshit. Grade A cutie, right? And she doesn’t go out of her way to spend time with you but she’s nice, and sometimes you catch her looking your way in a way that makes you think you might have a shot.

But her family. Holy shit.

First off, it’s p much ALL women, and mostly UNMARRIED women, which at this time means of something happens to her dad then you’re financially responsible for like. Four grown ass adults, potentially forever

Because mom in law is DEFINITELY gonna need someone to take care of her when dad in law kicks it, and they have like. NO money. So already you’re accepting that if all goes well, you’re gonna be one random old bag’s retirement home. That’s expensive and exhausting, yeah? Imagine asking someone on a first date knowing that if they say yes and things go good her high-strung chihuahua mother is gonna move in with you. IMAGINE.

And girly’s other sisters. Well, one is a sweetheart, yeah, so she probably won’t be an issue, but that still leaves three more, and two of those ones are INSUFFERABLE. Never went to school, dumb as rocks, spend cash like it’s toilet paper

And while one of the two is young still and might grow out of it the OTHER one is actively torpedo’ing her entire family’s reputation by wandering off with random dudes and chasing ass. She’s never gonna work, she can’t build connections, she’s a fucking sinkhole, and she’s being led on by the same goddamn con man ass leeching tit who’s been bleeding you dry while telling anyone who’ll listen that your family is full of ratty thieving bastards.

And if he dumps her after a week- WHICH YOU KNOW HIS BITCH ASS IS GONNA- you’ve got a SECOND UNMARRIABLE GROWN ASS ADULT TO PROVIDE FOR. And you KNOW she’s gonna be a tantrum-throwing little shit about it, and it’s not like you can lock her in the basement or something, you’re gonna have to bring her fucking. Everywhere. And give her an allowance and shit while she contributes zero, because again, she NEVER GOT EDUCATED AND HAS NO MARKETABLE SKILLS. She’s not even good to TALK to. FUCK

And you’re looking at this girl’s father like “please for the love of fuck get your spawn under control, marry them off, get them working on their résumé, learning to sew or be nursemaids or manage staff or SOMETHING, yall got no money and one foot in the grave” and that old man just laughs like “haha yeah, what can you do. lol”

So you’re looking to the mom and finally it’s making sense how she got that twitch in her eye and as MUCH as she is you’re starting to realize she’s the SMART one, desperately throwing her armloads of girls at random men like they’re a bunch of fucking lifeboats bobbing around a sinking ship, like yes Jesus Christ sweetly that life boat IS old and ugly and kind of boring but for FUCKS SAKE PICK ONE

And you look back at this girl who is ALSO REFUSING THE LIFE BOATS BY THE WAY and god damn it she’s still the most radiant thing you’ve ever seen so fine, fuck it, Christ alive, you’ll do it. You’ll shoot your shot. She’s everything you’ve ever wanted in anybody abut it’s not even just about that anymore, it’s about being her best fucking shot at a future, and even if she doesn’t like you all that much she’s still gonna say yes and that might break your heart a bit knowing it’s about the money but who knows, maybe it will at least be civil, or companionable, and even if she doesn’t LOVE you at least you’ll know she’s well and cared for

And so you’ll do it. You’ll take on the neurotic stress mess mother in law, the absent father, the broke ass wingnut no brain no money no future airhead sisters, the bad mannered relatives and the embarrassing behaviour and the impending future of sharing your entire shit with a clown parade of freeloaders, you’ll risk it all and accept the absolute certainty of financial ruin and emotional exhaustion for the rest of your whole ass life and you’ll make your own family deal with it too, you’ll do it, you’ll fucking DO IT, you stupid lovesick motherfucker

And so you go to this chick like “look. Your whole family’s a shitshow. You’ve got fucking nothing and you’re gonna die on the street. But for some reason- and I don’t get it either- I’ve fallen in love with you, and I wish I didn’t, but I did, so I’m telling you that whether you like me or not, I’ll give you everything. I’ll give you everything even if it’s the dumbest shit I ever done. Fuck my stupid Baka ass, I’ll marry you.”

And she looks at you- having heard or considered absolutely none of your months-long internal debate and monologue- and goes “The fuck did you just say about my family, you son of a bitch?”

And the shock of that is enough to jolt you back into a reality where you are able to actually hear and process what just came out of your damn mouth And yeah

Yeah, I think I kinda get it

[andrewmfriday]

Writing Is Like Driving . . .

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

License to Kitty.

[eydilily]

(look at what i have to offer) — this is the spider's nest.

[rozmorris]

Can AI replace developmental editors? I think not

Why would I open this can of worms? AI must be the most polarising subject in the arts world at the moment. Because I recently had an email from a software developer who’s working on an AI tool to provide writers with some of the functions of a developmental editor. She wanted to hire me as a consultant to help her develop the tool. First I wondered if she’d heard the saying about turkeys voting…

[thecraftyfoxthewriterscorner]

Editing Tip #5: Editing for Variation

A couple of line and copyediting tips to help you make your story shine. ✨

Hey Story Crafters,

Fall is in the air! The days are getting shorter and cooler, and pumpkin spice is back on the menu. I’m not really a fan of cooler weather, but low humidity and crisp air is pretty nice.

In this post, I want to cover a couple of line and copyediting tips that you can use during revision to help make your story shine even more. These tips are best used after you’re confident in and happy with your story from a big-picture level (in other words, after all the developmental editing is done).

If you’re just starting out as a writer, this might be a higher level of self-editing than you want to tackle at this point of your career. You still might want to check out the following tips, just to see if you want to add them to your self-editing toolbox to use in the future.

Word Choice Variation

Ever sit down to revise your story, switch out a word to introduce a little variation (like switching “amazing” to “awesome”), only to realize that you used that word earlier in the same paragraph? Or even just in the previous sentence?

It happens to me a lot as a writer. And it can happen during revision, or during the initial process of writing (because we all have a few words that we tend to fall back on and overuse). There are words that are expected to be frequently used (e.g., “and”, “said”, “the,” etc.), and because they are used so frequently, they tend to fade into the background. They don’t draw attention to themselves. But then there are less frequently used words that do draw attention, which makes it more obvious when they are used close together.

This is where the Search/Find function in your word processer comes in handy. Just type in the word you want to search for, and review how frequently that word appears in your story, and where that word appears. Depending on the results, you might want to consider switching up your word choice.

Sentence Length Variation

If you want to experiment with tone and mood, varying the length of your sentences can give you different effects, depending on what you’re going for.

For example, long, flowing sentences can help give a sense of continuous movement.

On the other hand, if you’re going for bursts of impact, short, punchy sentences will be the way to go. Just. Like. This.

Depending on the point of view you’ve chosen to use to tell your story, there is a delicate balance between your writerly voice and the POV character’s voice. But this is still a technique you should keep in mind, whether you use it as a writing exercise or try to incorporate into your writing.

As a writing exercise, you can take one block of text and try writing it from a different POV character, using sentence length variation to reflect a specific POV character’s personality.

Upcoming Events

ACES VCON 2024: This week is the ACES: The Society for Editing Virtual Conference! I’m super psyched to attend and learn from my fellow editors.

Flights of Foundry 2024 (September 27-29): Back for its 5th year this weekend is Flights of Foundry, the virtual, worldwide event for speculative creatives! I’ll be a participating on 2 panels: Let’s Fight! [Hour 4.0 = 4PM ET on Friday, September 27] and Ask an Editor (Session 1 of 2) [Hour 29.0 = 5PM ET on Saturday, September 28]

Also, I’ve still got a few editing slots open for this year! If you’ve recently finished a project (whether it’s a short story collection, a novella, or a novel) and you’re looking for an editor, please get in touch.

Send me an email!

Until next time!

Best,

Leah

Visit The Crafty Fox Editing Services

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Interested in getting free writing resources? Subscribe to my free Substack newsletter!

Substack post: https://thecraftyfoxwriterscorner.substack.com/p/editing-tip-5-editing-for-variation

[pnfc]

not on my A game honestly

[mightymur]

[ISBW] Spreadsheets, Ghosts, and the Art of Outlining with James L. Sutter

S20 Ep20: In Which Mur and James L. Sutter Discuss Editing, Outlining, and Ghostly Romances “I think that is the beating heart of any novel, is characters changing.”– James L. Sutter Transcript (This post went live for supporters on July 4, 2024. If you want early, ad-free, and sometimes expanded episodes, support at Patreon or Substack!) Join Mur and guest James L. Sutter as they delve into the…

[muchlovefleursblog]

[cjjasp]

Self-editing part 1 - seven basic rules of punctuation #writing

Many authors are just starting out and have never written anything longer than a memo or a tweet. Once that first manuscript is finished, they will self-edit it. But what if they didn’t have the luxury of a college education in journalism? Many new writers don’t know how to write a readable sentence or what constitutes a paragraph. I certainly didn’t. If these authors hope to find an agent or…

[manzanamarim]

My friend sal told me abt the svsss pad commercial and I stopped everything to draw this

[alana-reid-2005]

we all joke about and objectify this man, but do we stop to think how sad his story is? he grew up friendless and ruthlessly bullied for being a literal genius. constantly picked on by his coworkers, and he’s never in on the joke. he’s always being laughed at, never laughed with because no one understands his existentialist humor. he never has plans or places to go on the weekend after work. he goes to work then goes to his lonely home with all his books to keep him company. on occasion, he haunts the chess table at the park or meets with an old professor. no one takes the time to appreciate his weird little quirks. no one took the time to ask him if he was okay after the several traumatic incidents he endured. no one takes care of him because everyone’s too busy leaving. he could be a male model, yet he’s never thought of himself as attractive. when he does find love, he’s brutally stripped of it before he can blink. spencer reid, the lonely genius who learned of love too late and loss too soon.

[gludgenbell]

in one ear and out the other, cucumber-bro