Just
when you think that your fiction or poetry is as great as you can
possibly make it without someone else's help, you realize that
there are a few more little things that you can do. This is great
news because, when you finish these quick and simple edits, your
work will look that much more like a polished draft & instead
of some half-finished thing that nobody really likes.
With
these tips you can make your writing stronger, smoother and easier
for everyone to read. You will still receive critique from your
peers, especially if you're part of a good creative-writing
group: that's part of the process, and shouldn't be taken
too personally. After you've learned and applied these tips,
however, you'll be able to turn in a better draft, which should
impress the majority of your friends, family members and other readers.
Once
you've polished the draft (i.e. made all of the major revisions
that you think are necessary, at least at this point), let the story
sit for a few days at the very least. When you return to it for
more editing, it shouldn't be fresh to you: if the piece has
been chilling for a while, you'll be able to catch mistakes
and problem areas that you won't notice if you look at it every
day for a month straight.
After
the "cooling off" period, you should look at your work
again. Now you'll be able to catch these common problems:
-Inconsistency
in voice. Unless you're very sure of what you're doing,
you shouldn't switch from, say, first person to third in the
middle of a story or poem. It's useful in some instances (such
as flashbacks or flash forwards) but make sure that it is intentional.
Many writers unconsciously slip back into a voice that they use
the most often, only to catch themselves halfway through and switch
back to the one that began the story.
-Different
spellings of character names. The "Bobbye" you introduce
on page three shouldn't become "Bobbie" on page twenty-three.
-Difficult
scene transitions. When you read over your piece, especially if
it's a short story, you should ask yourself if readers will
make the mental jump from one scene to the next without being left
behind. The hop might make sense to you, but others could become
lost or confused.
-Undeveloped
characters. The people you write about should have their own personalities.
You don't have to describe every pore on your main character's
face (in fact, this would actually be a very bad idea unless the
pore-count affects the story), but your readers should get a good
feel for that character.
-Telling
versus showing. Look for section of your writing that lapse into
explanations instead of examples. "Jan was angry" tells
readers, but "Jan threw down the dish towel and stomped up
the stairs" shows them.
-Confused
pronouns. If you write about two male characters, be sure that the
"he" and "him" throughout your piece point to
the correct person. The confusing ones can be re-written or clarified
in your next draft.
-Improper
formatting for your piece. If you're part of a creative writing
group, it is courteous to double-space your story so that it's
easier for everyone to read. The extra space also gives them the
ability to make notes above or below each line. Poems shouldn't
be double-spaced, but you should look at the margins to be sure
that you didn't hit the "Tab" key one too many times.
Tip:
if you want to submit to a contest or magazine, you should follow
the guidelines for each publication. Stories aren't usually
stapled together (many editors prefer paper clips), but some editors
have different preferences. You might not think the "little
things" like this are important, but following the guidelines
might keep your piece out of the dreaded slush pile (where potentially
good stories go to be virtually ignored by the editor until it's
time to send the rejection letter).
-Typos.
Spell check won't catch everything. Make sure that you're
using the right words in their proper forms (i.e. "man"
when you want to say "one man" instead of "men").
Many readers will skim over these small errors without noticing
them, but you still want your piece to be at its best & just
in case you decide that it's ready to submit for a contest
or for publication.
You
also have your own "problem areas." All writers do. If
you're the guy who keeps forgetting how to spell your main
character's name, or if you're the girl who misspells
the same few words every time, look for these problems every time
you enter the revision stage.-Sarah
Borroum
