Fresh self-editing
I’ve spent many years on both sides of the editorial fence, as writer and editor. And the editor, whatever else his or her skills, has a big advantage in working with a manuscript because he or she comes at text without mental baggage. The writer carries steamer trunks’ worth of baggage – and tends to hang onto it like a life’s worth of mementos.
So what can a writer do to promote freshness during self editing? How can the writer shed the baggage and see his or her text naked? I actually think editors are crucial because writers can’t shed all of their baggage – let alone make up for weaknesses in their craft. But when you have to edit your own material, what are the tricks to induce freshness?
Here’s my list:
1) Use forgetfulness: An oldie but goodie. Set your text aside. The longer, the better. Overused pet words, favored locutions, poorly wrought anecdotes, mis-ordered of material, and awkward phraseology will stand out. People with poor memories definitely have an advantage here.
2) Switch perspective: Put yourself in the shoes of a critical colleague, especially a non-writer. Or pretend you’re writing to someone in another country, in another socio-economic bracket. How would this read to someone at the soup kitchen? Or to your mother or neighbor or childhood friend?
3) Change appearance: Change the type size, font, or screen color of your text. Or print the text in a new way, with different margins or in two columns. Induce unfamiliarity. See my earlier post on font-switching by clicking here. The font change forces me to read every word – and not skip over familiar woodwork.
4) Switch environments: If you write in an office, edit in your kitchen. Or better yet, edit in someone else’s kitchen. Or in a room or place where you feel a bit out of your element. I print out late drafts and retreat to my deck. Outside, the text somehow reads differently.
5) Change media: Convert your text to another medium. For starters, read it aloud. Even better, have someone else read it aloud. Or video yourself reading. Or enter key passages into a voice synthesizer – an electronic voice can butcher your words, but it can also show where you butchered the language.
Nothing beats a good editor. But when you don’t have one at your elbow, you can do a better job yourself by neutralizing the effect of over-familiarity. Changing time, place, perspective, appearance, environment, and media can all help.
I’ve recently toyed with text-to-speech synthesizers. They surprised me especially with their word emphasis. For fun, test them online. (Here’s one.) Let me know what you think. Do you use other ways to help self-edit?
