Writing, or the art of finding new and creative ways to express ideas that have for the most part already been shared in some fashion, is rejuvenating and exhilarating. Nothing beats the sensation of putting to paper an emotion or conflict that has moved your life in some manner. To explore an imaginary world, to re-write an experience so your heroine comes out the victor, or at least bests your nemesis with wit and candor.
The scary part is when you convince yourself that what you have written is golden and then you pick it up a few weeks later to discover the glory you felt, as your creative juices were flowing, was false. Your writing embers stutter as you find repetitive word choices, more use of the word ‘that’ and ‘just’ than you can count, weak and exhausted metaphors and copious examples of ‘telling’ instead of ‘showing’.
Your original thought, dialogue banter and genuine emotion may be there under the sludge of lazy writing, but no reader will ever smile over your sentiment or shed a tear for your hero’s loss, because it will never get past the slush pile.
Set your words free. Lighten the pages of unnecessary words. Put to flame the
motivations of your characters by demonstrating through their actions who they are and what they are about.
It is then, as you read your polished work that you will re-connect with your original purpose and once again fall in love with your writing. As much as it can be hard work and tedious, if editing is the tool by which writer’s reintroduce themselves to what they love about their craft, it most certainly must be good for the soul.
