You managed to get over that writer's block and write. But now comes the hard part – editing. Not everyone likes to do it, but it has to be done. Explain the important things to look for when it comes to editing, or give advice on how to make editing easier.
Perhaps look at editing techniques. Rereading as a reader and not a writer, as if you don't know what happens and see how well you understand your own piece, look for the common misspellings and punctuation, an error in development, inconsistencies, perhaps taking note of everything you build up for and state as fact in your piece just in case you do an inconsistency later. – SpectreWriter10 years ago
Editing is crucial to the writing process. Young writers starting out are especially uncomfortable with editing, but it is a crucial skill that must be developed in order to become successful. Perhaps stress this, and then as mentioned above, provide tips on editing techniques. The editing process at newspapers and other publications is extremely thorough and usually runs on a schedule: hard due dates, one day set aside for flats, another for first draft, another for peer editing, and then blocking. Peer review is extremely beneficial if done at a later time in the writing process. Editing on a "flat", or printed copy, is also a good tip. It's easier to find mistakes on a printed piece that don't show up as well digitally. – Emilie Medland-Marchen10 years ago
Definitely! From self-editing to peer editing to critiques! Perhaps you'd like to look at the difference kinds of editing in the story telling business - TV, film, animation, literature, playwriting. Dramaturgy is a vital aspect of new script writing, and passionate dramaturges are a rare find! A good playwright and dramaturge pairing listen to each other, understand their needs. To find a good editor/dramaturge, I've learned, the writer needs to know how they work and what they need from an outside force to succeed. – yase10 years ago
I think what scares most people about editing is simply how many rules there are. There is such a heavy emphasis on "correctness," and no matter how much you edit it seems impossible to get it perfect. It is definitely much easier to edit other's work than it is one's own.
I'd love to see the writer here explore the differences, or psychological reasons for, editing one's own work versus editing another's. There's some great research already being done on the topic, but I'd love to see it given that Artifice take. – G Anderson Lake10 years ago
I think so much of the writing process is editing. Starting to write is one of the hardest parts, and for me, it involves a lot of free writing just to get the thoughts out on paper. Afterwards, it's looking for grammatical errors, fixing sentence structure, rephrasing different parts to make the words flow more fluidly. Editing is necessary because it's refining those initial thoughts and ideas, and coming back to your writing gives you a chance to read your work over with a new perspective. – Kim9 years ago
I enjoy editing someone else's work but not my own. It makes me very anxious. It's simply not pleasant, and I know it shouldn't be this way. I should enjoy editing my work as much as I enjoy writing it. What helps me a little is having a physical copy of my work in front of me. It reads differently in print, and very often you are able to identify your mistakes more easily. I wonder how the process of editing used to be in, let's say, the 18th and 19th century. I have this pre-conceived idea that writers of that time did not need to edit their work very much. Anyone know if there has been research done on this? I think it would be interesting to compare the editing techniques of that time with the ones today. – Desexualize the Banana9 years ago