Posted at April 26, 2020
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Crafting a Story: Revising and Editing

I’m going to do a brief introduction to this topic. Revising and editing are important when writing anything.

Is there a difference between revising and editing? Yes, but they also go hand in hand. Editing is when you fix grammar and spelling mistakes. Revising is when you look at the piece as a whole and restructure, fix plot holes, and clear up any sentences that seem just a tad off. There’s more that can be in the category of revising but I won’t bore you with the exact break down of what’s included.

Why is it important? Well, people may not take your writing seriously, the wording can confuse your readers, and the chances of getting more jobs will dwindle down.

What can you do to catch your mistakes? Spell check, table reading (or reading out loud), recording your table read, have someone else read and give feedback, and read your piece backwards. Just a repeat of a combination of these things will help you catch “snags”, misspelled words, punctuation, plot holes, and more.

My method of editing and revising is this (just as an example to help you guys).

1) I do my vomit draft, use spell check, print off my writing, take a break, reread my work and fix anything I catch (spelling and punctuation wise), make my edits on my word document and reprint, take another break, reread for revising.

2) I edit my document with my revisions and reprint to table read. I do the same thing as  step one until it all flows.

3) I repeat once more and have my fiancé read my work. Then I will fix anything he’s noticed that I may have missed like in step one and in step two.

Sometimes I have to do these three steps five times sometimes it’s only three times. It all depends on what you’re writing and how long the piece is.

This may sound extensive and time consuming. Which it is time consuming. I dedicate an entire day to revise and edit my work. It is important it really is. I hope you found this article informative and I hope it helps some of you on where to start the daunting processes.

Trust me not many people enjoy this step. If you take your time though you’ll find yourself appreciative of it and it won’t be as much of a burden later on down the road. I hated this step but now I kind of enjoy it. I can’t believe I said that but it’s true. I love seeing my poetry and stories evolve from diamonds in the rough to something that shines.

Stay safe out there and good luck on your writing journey!

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