There are a few basic polishing tools one should use while re-writing. Why rewriting? Well, for one, while you’re writing your first draft you should just be concentrating on getting your story out. Donning the editor’s hat comes later. If you try to do both simultaneously, you’ll get nowhere.
And it is here that your computer, either the basic word-processing software or your rewriting software, can be of immense help. Here’s what I do.
After I’ve written my story, rewritten it to take care of the language and loopholes, I rewrite it once more to polish it.
- 1. The first thing I do is look for places where I have begun two consecutive sentences or two consecutive paragraphs the same way. Usually this happens with the word ‘then’ or ‘next’.
- 2. I do a find and search thing for exclamation marks. If there are many exclamation marks in any one particular sentence, I try to do away with all but one.
For instance, if I’ve written: Aha! So my investment really paid off! I knew it!, I retain the one after Aha and remove the others. In the beginning I felt that by using exclamation marks I was being emphatic where i should have been emphatic. Wrong. I was being distracting.
- 3 Next I use the search and find tool to spot adjectives and adverbs ending with ‘ly’ and see if I can do away with the ‘ly.’ If my search throws up phrase like there was this hugely popular, I remove hugely. Hey, popular is popular. And then if I’ve written, “I don’t need to resort to that!” she replied indignantly, I replace it with, She looked indignant. “I don’t need to resort to that!” she said. In this instance you can even do away with she said.
This is not always possible. For instance, if I’ve written, “Something about some distant cousin,” she said absently, I can’t very well write She looked absent. “Something about some distant cousin,” she said, can I? However, what I could use is, she looked like she was not altogether there or she looked distracted.
The upshot is that, don’t try too hard. Write whatever comes easily, else it will look forced.
More on this tomorrow.
I’m not sure if a comment is allowed to be this elaborate and long. Nevertheless, I didn’t want to edit any of the text, sorry.
I ran into (dunno if it’s the right phrase, if no, could you please suggest me a more appropriate phrase or word) your blog yesterday.
It’s damn addictive, to say the least. It’s so vibrant and the humour so crisp. No wonder you’re such a successful writer. In short, or rather, in long, it’s unclosebuttonpressable! You are one of the few writers who don’t seem to be from another planet, no offense to the others.
I am required to contribute a write-up for our college’s newsletter by the next week. I sat down to write and as usual hit the writer’s block (as you prefer to call it). Then I searched my e-bookmarks for your url. Can’t tell you how amazed i was, to find this post.
I realised I’ve always been doing the mistake of doing both the drafting and polishing at the same time. It’s one of the most useful suggestions i’ve read about writing.
Can’t wait to see more on this tomorrow.
@Dinesh, glad I could help:)
I don’t know if you have read Stephen King’s Danse Macabre but in that book he makes the point that anyone who is serious about writing will only succeed by writing every day. sitting down and working at your craft. but he agrees that the most important first step is to get the story down and then go back and edit it.
Personally I think that having a break between writing your first draft and subsequent revisions is most useful as time allows enough of what you have written to fade from memory that you can look at your efforts with fresh eyes. and then any style or content problems will be far more clear than when you are just pleased with yourself for getting it down into text.
@Iain, I haven’t read the abovementioned book but I have read many excerpts from it. I am also greatky influenced by it. About taking a break between the first and second drafts, I agree. It works for me too. But only when I have the luxury of time 🙂 Usually I am always fighting deadlines:(
@Iain, I haven’t read the abovementioned book but I have read many excerpts from it. I am also greatly influenced by it. About taking a break between the first and second drafts, I agree. It works for me too. But only when I have the luxury of time 🙂 Usually I am always fighting deadlines:(
Hey,
I am a first timer to your blog.. but have you written something about a writer’s block.
After writing for some time I often feel that my mind has gone completely numb. It’s as if Ive encountered a wall and I can’t go past it. Its only after sometime and sometimes as long as some days that I find I can write again.. Is there a faster solution to this, something I can train my mind to avoid such a situation as much as possible?
Thanks in advance
Rishabh
Wow! Great Tips. I’ll definitely try to inculcate this in my blog. By the way an article was published on Kkrishnaa’s Konfessions last sunday in Sunday Herald. I wanted to tell you about it from the day I read it.
Interesting and very helpful, thank you!
It is strange Smita – I am no writer, but always enjoyed playing around with words, on and on till everything sounded just right… maybe you know what I mean? And the tips you have mentioned here are exactly what I have unconsciously been doing in my playing around. It’s good to have some validation from a real writer! 🙂
And nice blog, I’ll be back to read more.
I like you blog, I find it vary helpful.
@SparrowSM, thanks:)