The first time you do this one, it may be a challenge. Let’s get started…

• Write a three-page essay on an easy topic, like what you did on your summer vacation, how to change the oil in your car, or anything with a fair amount of detail that you don’t have to research.
• Rewrite your essay as one page, without leaving out a single idea. Don’t simply edit, start over.
• Now write it up as one paragraph of 5 lines, without leaving out a single idea.
• If you’re feeling ambitious, make it one sentence, without leaving out a single idea.

By now, you’re out of breath and sweating like crazy. When your heart stops racing, go back and read the first essay, then read the lone paragraph. Which one do you think people will be more likely to read?

The good news is that you don’t have to perform a major workout every time you sit down to write. Doing it once is usually painful enough that the memory of it causes you to think, “Is there a shorter way to say that?”

What did you write today? Spend a few minutes going back over it, taking out unnecessary words, thoughts redundant or irrelevant to the main point, anything that doesn’t absolutely have to be there. You’re on your way to scribal fitness.

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Slenderize Your Writing in Only Minutes a Day

Editing text can be challenging at the best of times, especially text for a specific field such as engineering, medicine or education, all of which I deal with regularly. However, when that text was originally written in a different language and then fed through a computer before it lands on your desk you’re faced with an entirely different challenge. Meaning can truly be lost between the author, the translator and the editor. For example, one of the more interesting mix-ups I have come across is suggesting a doctor step in and help if your infertile husband cannot get you pregnant…

Many freelance jobs for editors are translated texts, and many freelance editors looking for work will choose to skip over them. Anyone who knows the job will tell you that it is a minefield that is best left alone unless you really know what you’re getting into. However, I believe that with a few tips and pointers to set you on the right course you could open up a whole new income stream. Following these steps should help you make a success of editing translated text from any language:

Start with the basics

As with writing, you should start with what you know. By correcting the spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors first you will not only ease yourself into the document and familiarize yourself with the text, you will also begin to notice the obvious confusions of meaning.

Never assume!

Take my previous example, it would seem a safe bet to assume that the author of the text did not mean for the doctor to call around while the husband was out with a bunch of flowers and a box of chocolates to set the mood! However, while you may think that the author meant to tell patients to visit their doctor for medical solutions to infertility you should not just change the text. Leave a comment or suggestion, or better still contact your client and ask what was meant.

Don’t be afraid to ask

Chances are your client is the one who translated the text, meaning they read both the native language of the author and English. If you are unsure about something, then they are the person to ask. They will have access to both the original and the English version of the document, and talking to them will clear up any misunderstandings. Being in constant contact also helps break down the barrier that working via the Internet can often create, which will lead to a better finished piece at the end and may also open up the possibility of future work.

Double-check everything

In some languages, such as Arabic, there aren’t words for certain technologies or medicines. Instead of simply naming a new machine or procedure it will be described. A good translator will at least make a stab at what the machine or procedure in question is, however, that does not mean that the name or the spelling is correct. Having a good dictionary, specific to the field the text is aimed at, is a must. For example, I frequently make use of TheFreeDictionary.com’s medical dictionary for any medical text I edit.

Once you have ferreted out what you believe to be the right name, phrase or term and inserted it into the text you MUST make a comment, or contact and inform your client that you have done so. Remember, you are an editor; not a doctor, engineer or expert in metaphysics! Besides, there is a very good chance that during the course of translation meanings were lost again, leading you to the wrong conclusion.

A full copy edit is a must

When you think you’re finished, even if you have been through the text one hundred and fifty four times always, always perform a final full copy edit before you send it to your client. When providing your client with time frames for completion add an extra day. Even if it can be done in two days, tell them three.

Here’s why: you need to sit back and read something else before a final edit. By moving away from the project you ensure a more thorough final read, rather than simply skimming because you’re sick of reading the same thing over and over and over again. It will be the little things like confused spellings such as weather when it should be whether, or a comma where there should be a semicolon. Read each word slowly, and out loud, to make sure you miss nothing.

DON’T PANIC!

So you’ve read this post, done some more research and won a bid for a translated text. Then it arrives and you read it. Suddenly you feel that you would be able to make more sense of Lewis Carroll’s The Jabberwocky than you could of the document on the screen. This is normal. Every day I get sent a booklet that I am utterly convinced was translated into Swedish instead of English. Words are back to front, grammar is non-existent, there are absolutely no full stops, and only 1.5 words out of 10 are spelled correctly.

Step away from your computer, make a cup of ~insert favorite beverage here~ and take a few steadying breaths. You CAN do this. Start with step one of step one, spelling. Then tackle the lack of proper punctuation, and before you know it the grammar is starting to take care of itself. Work one paragraph at a time this way and you’ll be finished before you know it.

Good Luck!

Has anyone had any difficult experiences editing translated texts? How did you manage? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Lost In Translation: Editing Translated Texts

For most, it’s just a fun way to pass the time. But for writers, networking can be both an essential tool to success and a source of endless information.

It’s a tool because a steady platform can only help you in the search for an agent, an editor or publisher. Have no cause for doubt: they will Google your name. Seeing that you have a regularly updated blog, a good following on Twitter, connections on LinkedIn — it takes pressure off them because you are already marketing yourself. They see that people know your name, and they won’t have to worry as much about trying to sell a completely unknown person, particularly if you write non-fiction, such as self-help books.

It’s also a great research source if you’ve ever tried to find information on the Internet and just could not find it. You can go to these networking sites (Twitter, especially) and you are almost guaranteed to find someone who knows something about it, or where to find the information.

As a confessed Twitter addict, let’s take this a bit further. For those of you not on Twitter, you join and set up your profile. Your updates are confined to a 140 character limit. You follow whoever you like, provided their profile is public, and anyone can follow you unless you block them.

Agents are on Twitter. Editors are on Twitter. Publishers and other writers are on Twitter. Not only is this an opportunity for you to learn what these industry professionals are looking for, it’s a chance to meet other writers. News travels at impossible speeds with the click of a “ReTweet” button. You’ll hear about the newest agents, the newest book deals. What’s in, what’s out.

As a bonus, you might even make some really good friends. I know I have.

Is networking for everyone? Not at all. Would it work for you? That’s entirely up to you – what you put in is what you get out. But I do believe that every writer should give it a shot.

Like anything else, it’s hard to build something without a foundation.

How much do you network? Please let us know how networking has benefited you in the comments below!

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Benefits of Networking: An Introduction

Dedication, you might call it, were you the flattering type (thanks!). Idiocy, you might counter, if you weren’t. But let’s label it perfectionism, the bane of the diligent writer, and the whole messy reason I’ve rewritten this introductory sequence three times over.

I’m tempted to rewrite it again.

That’s the terrible truth of it: perfectionism, celebrated in fields that demand little attachment to your work, proves a dangerous hurdle for folks who make a living off the sweat, blood and tears they pour onto the page. Think I’m being dramatic? Tally up each and every unfinished story on your harddrive. Count, too, each draft sitting a simple click away from going live on your website. Now – the best part! – consider where you might be right now if every single one of those projects had seen the light of day.

My own number settles somewhere between embarrassing and horribly depressing. Excuses? I’ve got plenty: too little time, a lack of inspiration, etc. The truth, naturally, hits a lot harder. I’m a perfectionist. Everything I write must visibly gleam on the page, diction so shiny and golden that it affords new meaning to the moniker ‘wordsmith.’

But life, ladies and gentleman, doesn’t play that nice. That’s admirable ambition, sure, but a goal unrealistic for the regular writer – the kind, y’know, trying to afford things like bread and toys off the bounty of the gray stuff between his ears. Striking it big proves a lot easier when the words shine at least silver, but here comes the reality check: if I’m too much of a perfectionist to ever call my work complete, hours spent perfecting every single word do little beyond waste precious time.

I don’t advocate sending your work off the moment you finish, mind. Taking time off afterward can prove a great help to the exhausted writer, but there comes a point when you have to stop rephrasing sentences every time you pull the words up on your screen.

Found Guilty

Obvious confession: I’m guiltier than the rest. A story of mine still lurks on my hard drive from nearly two years back, one that could have seen sunlight were I not so picky about the final product. The constant need to rewrite should already flash as a warning sign, but imagine that process pushed to an agonizing end – reluctance to even revisit the work, to sitting down with the words your own mind convinces you will never be just right.

Your brain does fine work in many cases. Telling you when to drop the editing pen isn’t one of them. But that’s a hard truth to swallow, especially for us poor writer types, and the kind of realization that only clicks when weeks – or months, or years – have passed since you last sat down with your story and tried to tighten it up.

Don’t do what I do, folks. Don’t obsess over minor details and waste countless hours debating the impact of each word on the audience. Give your work its due diligence, of course, but realize that there’s a point when just one more revision will do so much more harm than good.

Your words will thank you for the chance to breathe. And you’ll take away something too: the chance to channel your creative energy into a new project, maybe, without leaving the last one cold and unloved on your desktop. You might even come away with new respect for the countless books and stories crowding the store shelves. Are they perfect?

Of course not. But at least their authors knew when to let go, right?

How do you get over your perfectionism when it comes to your writing? Or do you?

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Perfection is Overrated

The act of writing is simple and cheap.  All you require is a writing utensil and a piece of paper.  As your work matures, the items that you use to hone your skills tend to develop.  No longer are napkins and Bic ballpoints enough, now you covet designer notebooks and legendary pens.   Great, but what about the real cost, the cost of showing your work to the world?

We will budget for coffee, drinks after work, a round of golf, and food, but writing usually never makes the list.  What costs, you ask?  Stamps for starters.  Yes, stamps.   Though numerous publications will allow you to submit your work on-line, paper submissions are still king.  Budget for the basics; stamps, envelopes, both 8 ½ x 11 and letter size, more paper, and a computer if you do not have one.   As you review the submission guidelines, another term pops up which may send a slight shiver down your spine.  Submission Fee!  Oh Snap.  That’s right sunshine, you are paying  for the right for some unknown person to reject your work.

I am quite new to the world of submissions and the intricacies that surround the specific guidelines that are set forth by the powers that be.  Yet I do understand that magazines, journals and newspapers are in business to share great work, but also to stay a float- recession or not.  Fees are not limited to submissions, but also to the entity called writing contests.  From $5 – $50, the costs, which are levied at you to enter your work for a chance at prestige and publication, need to be budgeted.

Once we start to take our writing seriously by accounting for the necessary tools and opportunities that present themselves, we attract the serious possibility of becoming great.

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Budget Basics – Food, Rent, Writing

If you’re anything like me, you have handwritten reminder notes scattered over your desk, the living room, the kitchen, and stuck inside the pages of books. You also have typed notes lurking in every corner of your hard drive–some years old, forgotten, never to resurface.

Recently, I found my writing commitments–blogging, novel, short stories–were starting to overwhelm me with ‘to do,’ and ‘don’t forget,’ and ‘write this one day’ notes.

Something had to be done.

Conveniently, just before I hit the brink of insanity, I was introduced to a program called Evernote, which you can download free for Windows, Mac, and handheld devices. It helps you keep track of practically everything you’ll need to organize for your writing (and the rest of your life too).

The program allows you to create a number of virtual notebooks, each if which hold individual notes. To suit my needs, I’ve arranged my notebooks under the headings:

• Blogging
• Fiction
• Interviews
• Research

Within each notebook, I’ve started notes on:

1. To do: Housekeeping items for my blog, technical issues to sort, links to add, emails to answer
2. Blog posts: An ever-growing list of any and every idea I have for blog posts
3. Novels: Notes for my work-in-progress; brilliant thoughts to add to my manuscript; logic holes to consider
4. Stories: Ideas for future novels or short stories
5. Craft: Any new tips I find on the craft of writing
6. eBooks: Ideas and resources for eBooks I might write one day
7. Interviews: Names and sites of potential interviewees, and interview questions
8. Research: Topics I need to research for my work-in-progress, or for blogging
9. Interesting: News items or interesting facts I come across that could potentially be turned into stories or articles
10. Books: Those I want to read, and those that have had a great influence on my writing

You can rearrange notes whenever you like, and tag them for easy identification.

One of my favourite features is the toolbar icon which allows you to send a webpage (or selected text from within it) to your Evernote, instantly.

Since I started using this program, I’ve found myself more organized and less stressed. I like having the knowledge that all my writing thoughts are compiled in the same place, and won’t end up in the stacks of paper or computer files that have disappeared through the years.

Do you have a favourite program for organizing your writing? How do you feel about the move away from manual note taking, in favour of digital note taking?

To learn more, check out some cool tutorial videos on how you can make the most of Evernote.

Photos courtesy of DeaPeaJay, Insomnia, whatleydude

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How to Use Evernote to Organize Your Writing

There are several things that have recently contributed to wasting a good portion of my allotted writing time, and these are things I want to learn to avoid.

I’m not saying the following list of programs and habits should be completely shunned; they’re all very useful and necessary. Still, I’ve decided to make a concerted effort to break free of these distractions during my writing time.

From now on, I’m kissing these 7 distractions goodbye:

1. Checking Email. I tend to check it not once, but every five minutes-or-so during my writing. Checking my email always leads to further distractions like replying to urgent (and not-so-urgent) messages.
2. Moderating/Replying to comments. This is one of the evils of checking email every few minutes. As soon as I see there are comments queued to be moderated, I feel the need to log into WordPress. I must then reply to comments so my readers don’t feel unloved.
3. Tweetdeck. Every time I hear that little tweet and see a pop-up on my screen, it takes my mind off writing. I don’t need to read tweets in real time. I can catch up on them later. I can retweet later. I can check out my new followers later.
4. Google Reader. My feedreader is one of the best tools I have for keeping up-to-date on what’s being discussed in the blogosphere. As much as it’s necessary, I often can’t help logging in to see if my favourite blogs have new posts up. Then, of course, I want to read them.
5. Feedburner/Blog Stats. I don’t really need to know what’s going on with my subscribers or traffic, not every day and not during my writing time. There’s really no excuse for this one. Yet, I still do it.
6. Image browsing. Looking for new blog photos can be productive, but I tend to get distracted by them too easily. Give me a thousand pages of free images to look through, and I’m totally gone.
7. Facebook. As much as I adore my friends and my fan page, they can wait until later in the day. There’s nothing urgent about seeing the latest status updates or checking out friends’ photos.

I’ve already started to beat some of these distractions, but others are harder to let go of. I have to keep reminding myself they’ll still be there when my scheduled writing time is done.

There’s a program called MacFreedom, which allows you to disable your internet access for up to 8 hours at a time. It’s available for free download here. Who knows, it might be just the thing to help me get my 2 full hours of uninterrupted writing time each day.

What things distract you from writing? Have you tried to give them up, and were you successful? What strategies have you found for writing without distractions?

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7 Writing Distractions I’m Kissing Goodbye

The fear of rejection is far more powerful than logic. Here are a few ways to blast through that fear of submission and get on a regular schedule of handing your work over.

Aim Low

This may sound like bad advice, but hear me out. There are the big giants of the literary magazine industry – The Kenyon Review, the Paris Review, Tin House, The New Yorker – and of course we’d all like to see our name emblazoned above our work in one of those great publications.

But the very thing that makes those magazines so appealing is the same thing that keeps many writers from ever submitting to them — they’re nearly impossible to get into. Sure, it’s a mark of prestige if you make it, but if you’re nervous about submitting you’re never going to get over your fear of rejection, when rejection is almost inevitable.

You’ll probably make it worse, in fact.

There are dozens of literary magazines founded every year, though. Many of them badly need good writers in order to establish themselves. These magazines cannot possibly get the attention of the biggest-name writers, so they’re looking for talented unknowns.

They want to establish themselves as places where really good writing is published, and they’re completely open to new people. They are a brilliant place to start submitting.

Now here’s a hard question for you — how many new, small, or relatively unknown literary journals are you even aware of? If the answer is zero, that’s a problem.

So check out the online (and free) literary magazine database and find ten literary journals in your genre that you’ve never heard of before (it’s searchable by every genre and length you can think of). Go read a few back issues and submit to the publishers who would be interested in your style.

Aim High

We’re not talking about where to submit anymore – we’re talking about the sheer number of submissions you should make. One excellent professional writer said that she made a goal to get at least ten rejection letters every month.

That’s right. Her goal was to get rejection letters, not acceptance letters. Why? Because when she made that goal about rejections, they weren’t nearly as disappointing to receive. They were simply a mark of honor for having submitted at all.

Think of your rejection letters as a tangible receipt for your submissions. Stop thinking of them as a terrible thing, and start thinking of them as a perfectly ordinary way to find out your story was indeed received and that you had successfully submitted.

What happens when you don’t get a rejection letter? Why, then, you get an acceptance letter.

Since you weren’t even looking for those acceptances, they’ll come as a nice surprise. You’re trying to receive a certain number of rejections, but you have no goal for acceptances. So when they do come, they will fall in your lap like gifts from above and you’ll be far more thrilled by them than you would have been had you been planning on them.

Getting acceptances might also mean your allotted number of rejections for that month hasn’t been met. Oh well. I guess you’ll have to submit more often to make up for it.

If you have a writer friend who also has trouble submitting, make a small wager with one another that whoever gets the most rejection letters in the space of a month wins a prize furnished by the other. If you get more rejection letters, he buys tickets to your favorite team’s game. If she gets more, you have to buy her a day at the spa. That’ll light a fire under both of you.

Aim at a Friend

Speaking of friends, if you have work that’s ready for submission but you can’t quite bring yourself to send it, enlist a friend’s assistance in exchange for your own. Make an agreement with one another that you will submit each other’s work to an agreed-upon list of publishers.

It’ll work. Most writers take a certain glee in making other writers do things they’re afraid to do themselves.

Make it into a party, hey. Get a bunch of envelopes, stamps, and copies of your manuscripts. Get a list of your publications and a computer for the ones who only accept via email. Break open a bottle of wine, get some good food out and start writing cover letters for one another to approve. It’s far easier to edit your friend’s work than it will be to start a letter from scratch on your own.

Before you know it, you’ll have a submission letter for every manuscript, and every one will be stamped and sent.

Even better? You won’t have had to be the one who pulled the trigger. Completely painless.

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How to Overcome Your Fear of Submission

Although it’s tempting for us storytellers to think of it as less creative, there are many easy ways to add a little flavour to our non-fiction.

Here are 7 of them to get you started:

1. Start with a quotation

Quotations are used to make your reader stop and think about something on a profound level. You can use a relevant quotation to begin your piece with a punch, or use it as a springboard for the content of your article.

2. Create an analogy

Some of the best copy uses analogies to make a point. Someone writing copy for a car dealership might draw on similarities between a specific vehicle and a powerful animal. A cheetah, perhaps. Analogies work well because they make the reader think about something familiar to them.

3. Integrate a story or personal anecdote

If you’ve ever sat through a lecture on a rather mundane subject, you’ll know that speakers often start with a story or personal anecdote. Like analogies, anecdotes spark interest in others by drawing on the familiar, prompting us to apply new information to our own lives.

4. Tell a joke

Who can resist a joke? Whether you tell it in words or use a comic strip to do the dirty work, making us laugh right off the bat nearly guarantees you’ll capture our attention. Just remember, the joke has to be relevant to your subject, and should add — not detract — from your overall purpose.

5. Answer FAQs

For some reason, people love lists of FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions). Instead of writing about a topic in the same old manner, why not take a different spin on it by answering questions people would naturally have about it? The other beauty of this strategy is that it makes your article more user-friendly; readers can skip questions that don’t interest them, and focus on those that do.

6. Interview an authority

If you’re writing about something out of your area of expertise, find an authority on the subject and conduct an interview. The question-and-answer format appeals to readers on the same level that FAQs do, and people are always more drawn to information written by someone with a great deal of experience.

7. Use eye-catching photographs

Never underestimate the power of a good photograph, especially when writing a blog post. The purpose of using a graphic is to catch the reader’s eye–to capture attention so they’ll stick around to read your content. A good photograph also makes your content look more professional, which is desirable if you’re looking to establish yourself as an authority.

Next time you’re writing non-fiction, use one or more of these strategies to transform your piece from ordinary to awesome.

What are the best tips you have to offer on making non-fiction creative and engaging?

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7 Ways to Add Flavour to Non-Fiction Writing

Well, recently I received some professional edits back on my novel and I realized there are rules that stand out more than others. Ones that aren’t always as obvious, aren’t talked about as much, yet make a huge difference in your work. I revised fifteen pages of my book, and the following maxims are the ones I found the most useful.

Adverbs

I’m not one who believes all adverbs are bad. I like a little extra description. I don’t shy away from purple all together. But, I did learn that there is a time and place for adverbs. Now I know when they really, truly should not be used. Don’t use them when a stronger word can be used. Period. Don’t be weak and say “walked quickly.” Say “hurried” instead. And rather than “walked purposefully,” use “strode.”
But, I do have a line about a shadowed fountain. The line originally told of a dimly lit fountain. Here, an adverb works. But dimly lit doesn’t even hold a candle (not even a flickering, dimly lit one) to shadowed. Especially when given the context. Shadowed is a much better word for the story, trust me. But fountain by itself—that just doesn’t work. So yeah, watch your adverbs, but I don’t think it’s necessary to drown or kill all your darlings. Just keep them in check.

Non-Events

If something doesn’t happen in your story, why tell of it? Here’s an example — Option A:  ”Sophia* didn’t even acknowledge Jonathan with a glance backward as he grumbled about her being late again” vs. Option B:  ”Sophia ignored his grumblings about her being late again.”

It made perfect sense (to me, at least) to use Option A, but once someone pointed out that telling the reader about something that didn’t happen was, well, pointless, I quickly agreed. (And yes, I would cut quickly out of narrative, most likely, but I kept it here because, well, I can. The realization was quick!) But really, why describe something that doesn’t happen? Keep it simple.
Which leads to the next thing I learned should not be used…

Without

Try doing without without. It’s a useless word. I had a line that started, “Without thinking, she stopped and called out.” Well, if she didn’t think, why say it? The sentence is now, simply, “She stopped and called out.” Tells the reader the exact same thing without bogging anything down. Watch for things that you, as a writer, may be thinking of as possibilities yet you don’t enter them into your story as action. If the ideas or actions do nothing but cross your mind, don’t bother the reader with anything about those non-actions. Keep them off the page. In every possible way, even as a character’s thought, or lack of thought.

Overwriting/Leaving Things Out

All right, so I just told you to leave out things that don’t happen, but it’s also important to make sure that you’re not picturing things in your head that do happen yet you don’t include them because it seems so obvious to you. You should describe every bit of the action so a reader can become immersed. So the reader can feel like it’s happening to him/her. Or that s/he is at least watching it.
I have a part where there are two people in a car already and two more join them. But only the three are mentioned. So when the fourth popped his head into the action, it jarred the reader. I added a simple sentence, “Marjorie tilted her head in a way to let Sophia know it wasn’t just the three of them in the car.” (It wasn’t somebody Marjorie and Sophia really wanted around.)
After I edited that bit, I realized it was overwritten. So then I changed it to, “Marjorie tilted her head in a way to let Sophia know the three weren’t alone in the car.” Those extra couple words told the reader nothing more than the most recent version does, and those words add up to slow down the narrative.
Same with this part about Sophia walking into a building. What’s important about the scene is the dialogue and the feelings between the two characters. Not that “Sophia pushed the door handle with her elbow.” Who cares about that?
Don’t overwrite, yet don’t leave out things that are important. It’s a tricky balance, but it’s important, so pay attention!

Telling

Yes, I know. I know. This one is well-known and obvious. But I had to throw it in here… I couldn’t bring myself to stop at just four rules. And as many times as you hear it, are lectured about it, are told how to show and not tell, it’s still something that should always be in the front of your mind while writing. Because, again, readers want to feel they are a part of the story. They don’t want simply to read of it as though it’s a in a history textbook (unless, of course, you are a textbook writer—if that’s the case, feel free to ignore me!).
I know you all know this one, but I’ll give a quick example anyway. Because it’s that important.
In one part, I had written the sentence, “Donovan gave her a condescending look.” Really? Wow. That’s exciting. How did he do that? Well, this is how — “Donovan looked down at her and cocked his head.” Yeah, doesn’t seem like a phenomenal change, but with the rest of the paragraph, it’s more than obvious to the reader what he’s doing, and now we know more of how Sophia feels. We (yes, I read my own stuff, how else can I edit?) are more in tune with what she’s going through at the moment due to Donovan’s actions.

— All right, I do believe I’m done preaching. Well, almost. There’s one last thing that ties back into the first. Mark Twain once said something about the word very. It’s a given not to use it. But he suggested that you replace it with a certain curse word (no, not that one!) and you’ll realize how ridiculous it is. Hmmm, now I have to go back and edit this. I hope I didn’t put a very in here somewhere. But if I did, you won’t know because I’ll follow my Mr. Twain’s (Clemens’ — whoever’s) advice and delete it. Very is bad. Very bad.

*Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

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Some Different Self-Editing Rules For Writers

Extraordinary writing exists because of extraordinary rewriting.

Contrary to popular belief, the right words don’t just come forward ready, willing and able. They are discovered, fought for, and captured. Writing, as you know, is hard work.

Your editor stands alone as the biggest ally in this battle for the correct and powerful use of language. Embrace him or her and the feedback given to you.

Yes, feedback comes at a cost. It sometimes chips away at your confidence as a writer, not to mention your word choices, organization, and writing style.

However, editors give out priceless feedback and advice more often than not. They represent the outsider, the person who doesn’t possess such a huge vested interest in every single word – like you.

You need them.

And yes, taking their compliments remains easier than absorbing their criticisms. But that constructive criticism can make your writing shine brightly instead of faintly.

So here are three ways to take an editor’s feedback better the next time you face the red pen:

Be open to new ideas. The correct way to write often has many paths to success. If your editor suggests reworking this or that, or just plain scrapping a passage, give it a try. It might be the right road or lead you to the perfect one.

Learn to love drafts. No one can churn out perfect writing on the first try. That’s why people refer to writers as artists. So much of an artist’s job relies on patience and persistence, so embrace those principles as you write toward your final piece. The more drafts, the more patience and persistence you show, the greater the payoff in the end.

Embrace change. You must see a theme developing here. Great writing comes from embracing change – in your own writing and beyond. Good editors will push your boundaries, and that means reaching for new ways of writing. Change a little with each piece and it won’t be so painful.

Feedback Form photo by Dominik Gwarek.

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How to be an Editor’s Best Friend – And Take Feedback

“But I don’t sell products,” you might be thinking. “So how can I take advantage of the holiday shopping season?” Here are a few simple holiday marketing ideas that can work wonders for service providers like you:

1. Send gifts to your clients.

Sending gifts to clients is a nice way to thank them for their business throughout the previous year. It also sets you apart from the competition and other contractors they might have worked with.

Can’t afford to send gifts to all of your clients? That’s okay. Sometimes it’s difficult if you work with a lot of people or if many of your clients are international (high shipping costs). In that case you could send gifts to your biggest clients, or just send out holiday cards.

If you send cards, it’s probably a good idea to go with more generic “Happy Holiday!” varieties unless you’re sure of the holiday a specific client celebrates.

2. Send out a holiday newsletter with a special offer.

Maybe you want to attract a few extra orders before year’s end. A brief sale can help you do that. Send out an email newsletter offering a holiday promotion to existing and previous clients with a special offer for giving you their past business.

For example, if you’re a Web content writer and you like to sell sets of 10 articles at once, you might offer them 12 articles for the price of 10 instead. Just remember that you don’t want to get bombarded with too much work over the holidays if you want to take time off to be with family, so put limits on how long the offer is valid.

Another option is to send the promotional offer, but have it be for work in the New Year, so you can kick off January with a few new orders already lined up. If you want to drum up even more business, you might offer a bigger discount for any new referrals your existing or past clients send your way.

3. Release something for free.

Everyone’s trying to get your potential clients to part with a buck around the holiday season. Be different. Give them a free gift instead!

Release a free report or e-book (with a holiday slant if you feel so inclined). Something to help your prospective clients reach their business goals in the New Year would be good.

4. Choose a charity.

People tend to be a bit more giving during the holiday season. Choose a favorite charity — one relevant to your business if you want or at least one that your clients wouldn’t have reason to object to. In other words, avoid things like politically-motivated charities (donate to them independently). You want to attract support from clients who are happy to have a portion of their payment go to support the cause.

Then go back to our handy email newsletters. Send one to your existing and past clients (or other opt-in email list) announcing that you’ll donate a portion of sales placed between that point and the end of the year. It might be enough to convince people to buy from you now rather than later (so even with the donations going out, you could easily still have more money than usual coming in). Even if you don’t get a lot of business out of it, there’s nothing wrong with building a little good will.

5. Run a contest.

People love contests. They’re given a chance to get something valuable for free. Why not put some of your services on the line in an effort to attract more potential clients in the long run?

For example, let’s say you write sales letter copy. You might launch a contest where you ask people in your target market to submit their existing sales letter copy that they’d like overhauled by a professional. You could set up whatever criteria you’d like for choosing your winner (or make it random). The winner would get a new sales letter for free, perhaps on the condition that you’ll be allowed to showcase it afterwards as an example of your genius skills.

Where’s the benefit for you? Some of the people entering the contest are your potential clients. The contest makes them aware of you. Getting to see the results even if they lose gives them a reason to consider hiring you later (even if they weren’t previously planning to hire anyone).

Holiday marketing ideas aren’t reserved for the retail industry. Freelance writers and other service providers have plenty of options that don’t have to cost a lot up front. How will you take advantage of the holiday season to attract more business this year?

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Simple Holiday Marketing Ideas for Freelance Writers

It starts innocently. First, you’ve got far too many pencils that need sharpening (you couldn’t possibly get to that latest project until you finish). Soon you’re looking at the two lonely pages of your novel and thinking, “Boy, these could use a quick edit before I move on.”

In the end, you’ve sunk lower than low. You’re caught in a cycle of filthy writing habits.

It’s high time someone hosted an intervention. Which of these nasty habits do you need to quit, and how do you plan to do it?

1. Not Keeping A Regular Schedule

Somewhere along the line, you’ve either fallen out of your previous writing schedule, or you never had one to begin with. Very bad, indeed.

If you have a 9-5 job, schedule an hour of writing (or more) each day, either early in the morning or later at night. For those of you under few time constraints, use that to your advantage. Try to schedule several hours of writing at the most convenient time for you.

Most of all, once you have a routine, stick to it as much as possible.

2. Forgetting Goal-Setting

Maybe your previous list of writing goals are languishing somewhere (along with your good intentions). Perhaps you never took the time to sit down and write them out. Worse, maybe you’ve never even mentally decided what you want to get out of your writing.

If you have a written list of goals, dig it out regularly. Review what you want to achieve. If you don’t have a list yet, create one. Be specific about what you plan for your writing, and map out how you’re going to get there.

You can revise your goals as circumstances change, but don’t give them up entirely.

3. Slacking On Submissions

Yeah, yeah, so you haven’t submitted anything lately. So what?

If you don’t submit your work for possible publication, you’re never going to be published. I don’t mean you should pump out a novel every month, but you can send blog posts to other sites as guest articles, submit a poem or short story to a magazine, or review a book for someone.

Maybe you’ve finished writing an entire novel or non-fiction book. Are you actively trying to get an agent? Have you worked on perfecting your query letter?

Don’t let slackness prevent you from getting your work read.

4. Getting Stuck In A Comfort Zone

We all have a zone, a comfortable type of writing that comes naturally to us. Maybe it’s the same old storyline you keep rehashing, or you have a particular style you’re not willing to let go of.

It’s great to have strengths, but don’t forget to build on your areas for improvement. Doing the same old thing day after day isn’t going to help you develop as a writer.

Try something new now and again. Mix things up.

5. Procrastinating

We all do it. We check our email a thousand times per hour, get stuck into catching up on our favourite blogs, whatever. Anything that keeps you from getting down to work is getting in your way.

For one week, try being extra-aware of your procrastination habits. Every time you sit down to work but find yourself diverted by something less productive, jot down one word to describe the offender. Email. Twitter. Flickr. You’ll probably be surprised at how often you procrastinate, and being aware of it will help you get back to writing.

6. Neglecting Professional Development

As a teacher, I have to take professional development courses often–mandatory notification, first aid, classroom management–or lose my license and my membership with the school board. Maybe your day-job has similar requirements.

Being a writer doesn’t come with specific demands for you to continually educate yourself, so it’s easy to ignore. After all, no one’s going to come after you with, “Hey! Drop that pencil or I’ll report you to the authorities!”

Still, it’s important to pursue professional development as a writer. This can mean critical reading, taking a writing class, joining a writers’ group, or working with a mentor. At the very least, read a lot and read often.

7. Over-Indulging In Self-Editing

About those two pages of your novel: you could really stand to leave them alone for a while and simply continue with your story. They don’t need to be edited just yet. If you find something really annoying about them, just make a note reminding youself to fix it later.

Excessive self-editing during the draft process is really just another form of procrastination. Get the whole book written first, then you can tear it apart. If you worry about perfecting it along the way, you may never finish.

8. Isolating Yourself As A Writer

We writers like to work by ourselves. There’s something about the solace, the peacefulness of just you and your computer. Alone. Oh, so alone.

I love it just as much as the next person, but that doesn’t mean you should continue to work as an island. Connect with other writers, either online or in person. Build relationships with people you can learn from. At the very least, you might find some sense of support in hearing about their writing experiences.

Also, these connections can be invaluable when it comes time to find a fresh opinion on your writing.

You: A Successful Quitter

The key to quitting any bad writing habit is to be aware of your faults. What’s getting in the way of your writing? Remember to:

• Work to a schedule
• Set and review goals
• Submit regularly
• Try something new
• Stay on task
• Improve your knowledge
• Refrain from editing too early
• Connect with other writers

So be a quitter. Ditch those nasty habits. Get more done.

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8 Nasty Writing Habits You Should Quit

Starting a new website is as easy as choosing the topics you want to write about, spending 3 to 5 minutes to register to a directory service (you can use most of them for free) and populating it with your words. That’s it. Virtually everyone can get their writing website up and running.

On the contrary, maintaining your site seems quite harder. According to published studies, as many as 95% of websites are inactive. This happens because the majority of the writers don’t pass the passion + motivation + commitment test.

Before you start a website to showcase your writing, ask yourself if you feel you can truly give a valuable contribution to the writing world. You’ll also need to understand if you like the idea of dedicating your time to keeping your site fresh and neat.

If the answer is “yes, absolutely” – congratulations! That is half the battle.

Here are 10 tips to help you turn your site into a compelling, top-class, popular one.

1. Stay focused

Choose a topic and stick to it, whether you are writing about yourself or about sports, technology or cooking. People sharing your interests will find you easily – and stick to YOU.

2. Be unique

The more original and innovative you are, the better. Finding something no one has ever posted about can be hard, but still you can have a distinctive approach to a well-known topic. Maybe you have exclusive insights to share, or you’re an expert in your field, or you simply have your own, appealing way to present things and opinions.

3. Post often

A website is not a magazine, and readers expect frequent updates. Try to write something at least once or twice a day: even a small post will work. You also might want do some planning, and note down topics and ideas about which to write in the future.

4. Engage

Involvement is the first step towards the building of a loyal and enthusiastic audience. Allowing comments on your site, for example, is a good way to give your readers a chance to participate in the discussion.

5. Use the right tone of voice

Try to write the way you would speak with your friends. If it’s appropriate to the subject of your blog, use an informal language and  jargon, so that it’s apparent to whom you’re talking to.

6. Go straight to the point

Try to be concise: avoid cryptic headlines, and make sure your readers catch the subject of your post right from its first lines.

7. Interact

Besides keeping an eye on the comments to your posts and responding to them, it is a good idea to synchronize your site with the other social networks you’re into; you can find some nice tips on how to do it (even if you are a code dummy) on the internet – or you can leverage  Badged.net, a free service that lets you add your favorite social networking badges to your website.

8. Give suggestions

Don’t be selfish: share your resources and bookmarks with your readers. And don’t be afraid to lose your following. If your site is actually unique, original and engaging, redirecting your readers to other interesting websites will only make your site look like a valuable source of information – they’ll stick to you and keep coming back for more!

9. Add external references

Similarly, if the arguments inside one of your posts are endorsed or supported by external, trustworthy sources, do cite those sources and link to them in your post. It will help invigorate your site’s reputation.

10. Make it look good

Even the coolest design cannot replace compelling and readable writing- your site will also need to catch the eye: a good-looking site will attract first-time visitors and increase the chances that they keep on reading through your pages. Again, you don’t need to be a web designer to enhance the aesthetics of your website. Most website creation services let you choose from a range of free templates that you can easily customize, or you can go scouting over the Internet for something different.  Type “free website templates” on Google, you’ll be amazed at how many sites you will find!

Do you have any other tips to help writers improve their website content?

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10 Tips for Improving Your Writing Website

That stands alone as the best way to make your writing better.

Cut. Cut. Cut.

Editing your own writing can prove difficult, but the task becomes less intimidating once you employ a strategy.

Back Away

When we write, we often pour ourselves into our work, spending hours and hours refining our masterpieces. How then do we edit down the words that matter so much to us?

Back away.

Seriously, no matter what you’re writing and what your deadline may be, try to take a break from it before diving into your editing process. That break should help you determine what’s worth keeping and what you should ditch.

Even if it’s only 15 minutes, that time away to refresh could make the difference between good writing and great writing.

Would Mom Read This?

After you’ve taken a breather from your work, come back to it and ask yourself a question. And be honest with the answer.

Would my mother want to read this?

Chances are that your mom may be the average reader, so her perceived opinion and impression of your piece could help guide what shines in your piece and what lacks luster. And remember, your mom doesn’t have to be your ideal reader.

Select someone you respect who has selective tastes for what they read. Once you read your writing with your “mom” filter on, you’ll know what other clunky words, sentences and passages need to disappear.

What Matters to You the Most?

Next, you face the most difficult part of this process. Find the sentence, paragraph or quote that matters to you the most and cut it.

I bet you’re cringing right now, but trust me – it works.

More often than not, the words that matter to us most have the tiniest impact on the final product we’re reaching for. Keep that in mind as you reread your piece.

I’m not saying you should lose the lead you crafted ever so carefully or ditch that dialogue that makes your characters real, but you should question every single word. I’ll bet there’s a passage or two that you just love.

You love it because you wrote it – not because it’s good or that it adds to the writing. That’s what you need to lose the most.

Real Editing is Ruthless

Editing your own work is near impossible, but if you use these steps, it’ll become easier. You’ll find yourself churning out shorter and shorter pieces, and you’ll discover that you and your readers will be more engaged with what you’re writing.

Quote me on that.

And hey, don’t forget to share your editing tips below. Let’s help each other out!

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The First Step to Being a Better Writer