Zoning in on the detail by Annmarie Miles
I've mentioned before on this blog, that I am not a fan of editing. I find it difficult, I don't enjoy it and after a certain number of times reading the text, I end up regretting ever writing it. This year I have been challenged to change my attitude towards editing. To become the type of writer who crafts, reworks and reworks again to make my writing the best that it can be. I've asked God to help me with this and a small epiphany, we'll call it an epiphanette, came to me just recently...
I’ve spent quite a bit of lockdown doing jigsaws. Yes, I am one of ""those"" people. I have a proper zip-up 1000 piece jigsaw board, two smaller boards inside! Over time, I have come to prefer jigsaws that are photographs. I find jigsaws that are paintings or animations not just more difficult, but confusing.
If I’m doing a jigsaw that is a photo of a house and it has a tiled roof, I look for pieces with tiles. But this jigsaw is a painting of a house with a tiled roof. (See top left) I started looking for pieces with tiles; but what I NEEDED to look for was pieces with orange splashes and black squiggly lines.
When I stand back from the picture, the tiled roof look like just that. but when looking for those individual pieces I wasn't looking for tiles, just representations of them. (See below)
Now this revelation is not in any way an insult towards art. It's simply an analogy about my writing. I want my writing to be a picture. Not a caricature. From a distance the tiles look like tiles. Close up, these tiles are sploshes and squiggles. I want to zone in on my writing and examine it piece by piece. I want to make sure it’s not just splashes with squiggly lines. Sounds like editing to me and it needs to be done. 
So, a plea for advice! If anyone has any tips and/or resources to help me be a better editor of my own work, then please let me know. I need all the help I can get!
While I'm here can I give a shout out out to the ACW March events? These events are free for Association Members and £5 per computer for non members. There will be a host of people who have a range of experience in these areas. Pop over to our events page to book your space. Click here for information : )
Annmarie Miles is from Dublin, Ireland.
She lives with her husband Richard who is a pastor in the Eastern Valley of Gwent, in South Wales. She writes short stories, magazine articles, devotional pieces for Christian radio, and blogs about her faith at www.auntyamo.com Her first collection of short stories published in 2013, is called 'The Long & The Short of it'. Her second collection, 'A Sense of the Sea and other stories,' was published in 2018 and in December 2019 she published her first novel, Gorse Lodge. She is currently editing a non-fiction book about being an overweight Christian called, 'Have mercy on me O Lord, a slimmer.'
Great post, Annmarie. I too struggle with editing as it takes me so long. The important question for me is when to stop. Sometimes I feel I'll be editing forever!!
ReplyDeleteEditing! There must be people who enjoy it, but I'm not one of them. I love the jigsaw analogy.
ReplyDeleteBest tip I've found helps, Annmarie, is to put your work away for a bit, draft something else, and then come back to the first piece again. Time away from it helps give you distance and that makes it easier (not necessarily easy please note!) to spot the foibles etc. Works for me. I allow at least a week.
ReplyDeleteI really like the editing stage because it means I've actually completed a draft!
ReplyDeleteBut, yes, as Allison says, put the piece away and don't try to edit what you've only just written.
DeleteReading it out loud to myself or to a willing friend helps! I loved reading your Bio - you must have already done a good bit of editing to have produced all that lot! I should be coming to you for advice. I do need to go to somebody for advice, but have no idea what my question is!
ReplyDelete