I took your every suggestion when I submitted a draft to On Reflection - there is no ego here because I genuinely am interested in becoming better
Here's a question - (this is in the context of writing on Medium) - my polished pieces perform okay but my blogs (with little editing) do way better - even the boosted ones are written in that style - what do you make of it? As in is editing king here or the audience or the content?
Linda, thought provoking as usual. I had to think a bit about this one but it is particularly relevant to my writing. A lot of my work is controversial to some readers because I write political observation and opinion. And editing is where I try to keep some balance where I can. Writing about Israel/Hamas/Gaza is an example because it is complex, highly emotional, and often not driven by pure logic. Careful editing means trying to balance things that are not easily balanced for many people. I like to think I’ve been fairly successful with that but it is a daily concern.
Thanks, Martin. You bring up an interesting conversation, which is writing sensitive topics. I'd almost think when writing about politics you'd have to really consider where to push emotional buttons and when to dial back and lean heavy into documented fact. It's what I try to consider when I write about feminist issues. Because both are part of reader reaction, you know?
That's probably why it's valuable to take a day between composing and editing. You get to read your own words as a reader instead of a writer, and that helps you see the reaction they will cause (and when that reaction isn't what you want). Nice article!
It's so hard though, when you publish news. But it's true, even though I proof-read what I email out, inevitably a day later I tweak two or more sentences in the version that lives on the open web.
Serial post-pub editing is so me! I try not to reread anything older than a couple of days--I'm telling myself I can go back in after a year... maybe it'll work
Self-editing can be risky. I have listened as a writer read her own work out loud, while I also read the text. She had a stored version, in her brain, that skipped over problems in the text!
I have a printed, published, technical book, written by a Mexican scientist. I don't know if he wrote it in English or if it was translated by him. Either way, the content is fascinating but the need for real editing is desperate. As I speak Spanish every day, I can recognize the Spanish word order but this is in English text. I wrote as much in an Amazon review and the review was rejected. I may need to rewrite the book for him!
Lee! That is such a great comment. You hit on what makes a translator good at their work. When they can read in one language and have the same effect on the reader in another. That's a really big thing in the works of Tolstoy. Some of the translations are far superior to others.
Hey Linda! Yeah I constantly worry about how readers react to what I write, especially on controversial topics. But I still have my blind spots, so it's best to have a (competent) editor look over it, too. Sometimes I explicitly ask the editor to check if a certain part is problematic, too harsh, too clumsy, etc. I work as a therapist, too, so thinking from the other person's point of view, is our daily job, haha.
You hit a couple of really important ones, Sieran. Too harsh and too clumsy. Many people think the more pain they can bleed on the page, the better. Often the opposite the case.
This is why I always give my poems time to breathe, as I call it, before I submit. It's amazing the way 'errors' like unclear writing show up after a few days rest.
Sometimes, after a 'rest', I see that the entire poem (or almost all of it) needs to be trashed. It makes no sense or is boring or whatever. Discouraging but it's part of the Process.
I find poetry particularly difficult. It's such a product of my emotions--freshly written, it's way too raw but my feelings are in a different place every time I revisit so the writing process is like trying to catch a handful of fog.
Great metaphor. It is indeed! Yet I love writing poetry and look forward to it (most of the time) -- as opposed to when I tried essays, memoirs, anything fiction or nonfiction. My soul is a poet absolutely. :)
I found you and read your most recent poem, the banker's boxes one - wow! I was so impressed and could beyond relate for an array of reasons, including an unwanted breakup (partner's infidelity) three years ago. Poetry for sure helped me heal.
I look at a heightened sense of reaction as empathy responding to emotion, our four senses, and how the writing affects the psyche.
Some things require the reader to have a heightened sense of reaction to connect with them in solidarity or to learn to understand better to raise awareness.
Some things are harrowing to read. Is there such a thing as being overprotective of a reader so much that, in the spirit of mercy, the edited version does not have the same impact?
The best example of this that I can give is stories about animal cruelty - abuse cases involving dogs.
I needed to build a tolerance level for reading these stories because each one is worse than the one before, especially if you know you will see it in your work or volunteer efforts.
The same could apply to stories written by emergency room and trauma physicians, first responders, and police officers. It would not be fair or merciful to the storytellers or the victims. The reader has an opportunity to see humanity at its finest when the situation couldn't possibly be at its worst.
What precedent does a (new) writer want to set with their reader?
A quick push to publish or realize if the writer is bored to tears with their work, maybe their reader would be, too.
I wonder if Mercy has anything to do with the number of unpublished drafts I have.
Your last sentence made me laugh. Me, too. So many. In my case, they don't meet my own standards. lol. But. I think the heightened sense of reaction includes noticing when writing is dragging, when it's slow, when it's too soaked in trauma. Because we can talk about hard topics without dumping trauma on the page. You know?
Great post, Linda. I'm not sure I can explain how to heighten that sensitivity. Practice certainly helps. Reading helps. Reading with an inquisitive mind helps more. When I read I ask myself questions. Writing questions. Why did he inject that declarative there? Why did he reflect here? Why jump to that tense? You have to become aware of what is happening in a book from outside the book. A lot more I could say here, but I won't. :)
Maybe something to add to your notebook of vlog topics? I agree. Always comes back to seeing, doesn't it? Even just noticing. Paying attention. Even if we don't read with an intentionally inquisitive mind, if we read with an observant one and take note of the bits that punch us in the heart or head, we can't help but learn something.
Having worked a lot with a) no copy editor, with b) an overzealous copy editor, and c) a just-right copy editor, option c is worth 10 times option a, and 100 times option b.
Communications 101: Consider your audience. Not all writers do and many don’t think about this enough. I’m currently in rehearsals for a production of Cabaret. We have an app where the cast and crew exchange messages, information, encouragement, etc. I don’t understand some of the comments the younger people make. My cultural references are not the same. Several of the actors don’t get mine either: HMS Pinafore and Dostoyevsky get blank stares. We’re just talking, so we can inquire further and learn from each other, but a writer usually gets one shot at it.
I stop reading after the second or third WTF? I imagine I’m not the only one. There are times where you can expect your reader will get your references, a technical article for instance usually need not explain every little thing. If you are trying to reach a wide audience however, it’s a mistake to assume too much.
When I read a novel, I find problems that could be easily edited to something that wouldn't have stopped my reading. I click to correct a "typo" and type the correction.
If I have to correct something on every page, I stop reading.
A book I can read without stumbling over easy fixes is wonderful.
So often the advice to writers is 'write it how you'd speak it'. It's easy to see how that would produce writing that touches the reader the way the writer hoped--we're already used to speaking to other people. Maybe we even know we need to self-edit, lol.
But most readers read at a grade school level even though their audio /conversational comprehension is well above that. I guess finding grade school words that convey adult-level meaning is the hard work referred to!
Thanks for recommending On Writing Well by William Zinsser, I love that he counts the syllables in the Gettysburg Address... next level!
Thanks, I will go look that up. Sounds up my alley.
I took your every suggestion when I submitted a draft to On Reflection - there is no ego here because I genuinely am interested in becoming better
Here's a question - (this is in the context of writing on Medium) - my polished pieces perform okay but my blogs (with little editing) do way better - even the boosted ones are written in that style - what do you make of it? As in is editing king here or the audience or the content?
When you say blogs, do you also mean on Medium? If yes, could be that you have grown to know what your readers respond to. That's a nice thing. :)
Personal voice has an immediacy that creates rapport.
Linda, thought provoking as usual. I had to think a bit about this one but it is particularly relevant to my writing. A lot of my work is controversial to some readers because I write political observation and opinion. And editing is where I try to keep some balance where I can. Writing about Israel/Hamas/Gaza is an example because it is complex, highly emotional, and often not driven by pure logic. Careful editing means trying to balance things that are not easily balanced for many people. I like to think I’ve been fairly successful with that but it is a daily concern.
Thanks, Martin. You bring up an interesting conversation, which is writing sensitive topics. I'd almost think when writing about politics you'd have to really consider where to push emotional buttons and when to dial back and lean heavy into documented fact. It's what I try to consider when I write about feminist issues. Because both are part of reader reaction, you know?
That's probably why it's valuable to take a day between composing and editing. You get to read your own words as a reader instead of a writer, and that helps you see the reaction they will cause (and when that reaction isn't what you want). Nice article!
It's so hard though, when you publish news. But it's true, even though I proof-read what I email out, inevitably a day later I tweak two or more sentences in the version that lives on the open web.
I hear you. If I can give it about 8 hours that's enough, but there are days when something goes live when the digital ink is still hot.
Serial post-pub editing is so me! I try not to reread anything older than a couple of days--I'm telling myself I can go back in after a year... maybe it'll work
Yup. Some folks don't get to have that space in writing. Journalists, reporters. So when we do, it's nice to make it work for us. :)
"A heightened sensitivity to reaction." Such as a writer's feelings on learning their piece has been rejected.
Great points, as always!
Self-editing can be risky. I have listened as a writer read her own work out loud, while I also read the text. She had a stored version, in her brain, that skipped over problems in the text!
I have a printed, published, technical book, written by a Mexican scientist. I don't know if he wrote it in English or if it was translated by him. Either way, the content is fascinating but the need for real editing is desperate. As I speak Spanish every day, I can recognize the Spanish word order but this is in English text. I wrote as much in an Amazon review and the review was rejected. I may need to rewrite the book for him!
Lee! That is such a great comment. You hit on what makes a translator good at their work. When they can read in one language and have the same effect on the reader in another. That's a really big thing in the works of Tolstoy. Some of the translations are far superior to others.
Hey Linda! Yeah I constantly worry about how readers react to what I write, especially on controversial topics. But I still have my blind spots, so it's best to have a (competent) editor look over it, too. Sometimes I explicitly ask the editor to check if a certain part is problematic, too harsh, too clumsy, etc. I work as a therapist, too, so thinking from the other person's point of view, is our daily job, haha.
You hit a couple of really important ones, Sieran. Too harsh and too clumsy. Many people think the more pain they can bleed on the page, the better. Often the opposite the case.
This is why I always give my poems time to breathe, as I call it, before I submit. It's amazing the way 'errors' like unclear writing show up after a few days rest.
You are so right. For me minimum sit time is at least 3 days. Sometimes weeks, depending on how long and how personal it is.
Sometimes, after a 'rest', I see that the entire poem (or almost all of it) needs to be trashed. It makes no sense or is boring or whatever. Discouraging but it's part of the Process.
I find poetry particularly difficult. It's such a product of my emotions--freshly written, it's way too raw but my feelings are in a different place every time I revisit so the writing process is like trying to catch a handful of fog.
Great metaphor. It is indeed! Yet I love writing poetry and look forward to it (most of the time) -- as opposed to when I tried essays, memoirs, anything fiction or nonfiction. My soul is a poet absolutely. :)
Are you on Medium? I'll look you up!
I am! Only one poem though.
I'll look out for you--I'd love to see your work.
I found you and read your most recent poem, the banker's boxes one - wow! I was so impressed and could beyond relate for an array of reasons, including an unwanted breakup (partner's infidelity) three years ago. Poetry for sure helped me heal.
I look at a heightened sense of reaction as empathy responding to emotion, our four senses, and how the writing affects the psyche.
Some things require the reader to have a heightened sense of reaction to connect with them in solidarity or to learn to understand better to raise awareness.
Some things are harrowing to read. Is there such a thing as being overprotective of a reader so much that, in the spirit of mercy, the edited version does not have the same impact?
The best example of this that I can give is stories about animal cruelty - abuse cases involving dogs.
I needed to build a tolerance level for reading these stories because each one is worse than the one before, especially if you know you will see it in your work or volunteer efforts.
The same could apply to stories written by emergency room and trauma physicians, first responders, and police officers. It would not be fair or merciful to the storytellers or the victims. The reader has an opportunity to see humanity at its finest when the situation couldn't possibly be at its worst.
What precedent does a (new) writer want to set with their reader?
A quick push to publish or realize if the writer is bored to tears with their work, maybe their reader would be, too.
I wonder if Mercy has anything to do with the number of unpublished drafts I have.
Your last sentence made me laugh. Me, too. So many. In my case, they don't meet my own standards. lol. But. I think the heightened sense of reaction includes noticing when writing is dragging, when it's slow, when it's too soaked in trauma. Because we can talk about hard topics without dumping trauma on the page. You know?
Thanks, Linda!
Great post, Linda. I'm not sure I can explain how to heighten that sensitivity. Practice certainly helps. Reading helps. Reading with an inquisitive mind helps more. When I read I ask myself questions. Writing questions. Why did he inject that declarative there? Why did he reflect here? Why jump to that tense? You have to become aware of what is happening in a book from outside the book. A lot more I could say here, but I won't. :)
Maybe something to add to your notebook of vlog topics? I agree. Always comes back to seeing, doesn't it? Even just noticing. Paying attention. Even if we don't read with an intentionally inquisitive mind, if we read with an observant one and take note of the bits that punch us in the heart or head, we can't help but learn something.
Having worked a lot with a) no copy editor, with b) an overzealous copy editor, and c) a just-right copy editor, option c is worth 10 times option a, and 100 times option b.
I would SO agree with you. I used to write for print magazines. A just right editor is worth their weight in gold.
Communications 101: Consider your audience. Not all writers do and many don’t think about this enough. I’m currently in rehearsals for a production of Cabaret. We have an app where the cast and crew exchange messages, information, encouragement, etc. I don’t understand some of the comments the younger people make. My cultural references are not the same. Several of the actors don’t get mine either: HMS Pinafore and Dostoyevsky get blank stares. We’re just talking, so we can inquire further and learn from each other, but a writer usually gets one shot at it.
I stop reading after the second or third WTF? I imagine I’m not the only one. There are times where you can expect your reader will get your references, a technical article for instance usually need not explain every little thing. If you are trying to reach a wide audience however, it’s a mistake to assume too much.
Love it money-worthy advice
A heightened sensitivity to reaction -- no wonder that phrase caught you. It's now lodged in my mind and I plan to keep it there. Thank you!
When I read a novel, I find problems that could be easily edited to something that wouldn't have stopped my reading. I click to correct a "typo" and type the correction.
If I have to correct something on every page, I stop reading.
A book I can read without stumbling over easy fixes is wonderful.
Linda
So often the advice to writers is 'write it how you'd speak it'. It's easy to see how that would produce writing that touches the reader the way the writer hoped--we're already used to speaking to other people. Maybe we even know we need to self-edit, lol.
But most readers read at a grade school level even though their audio /conversational comprehension is well above that. I guess finding grade school words that convey adult-level meaning is the hard work referred to!
Thanks for recommending On Writing Well by William Zinsser, I love that he counts the syllables in the Gettysburg Address... next level!