Editing: Don’t boil it, stew it

It’s amazing what three years or so can do for your writing!  That’s how long it took me to dare go back and find the rubbish I wrote during my days at University.

And so I spent ten minutes of my time, squeeming at the creative pieces I’d begrudgingly submitted after hours and hours of agonising.  It was pretty obvious what I’d done.  I’d edited the hell out of every one.  But is that possible?  Well, from my experience it is.  It was like my stories had gone from a sumptuous aromatic mouthwatering stew (at least in my head) to plain old disgusting tripe.  My ideas and characters had survived and I still liked them, but everything else had just turned to mush.  It certainly wasn’t what I wanted it to be and I know editing is supposed to improve writing, not ruin it.

So I wondered.  How had I let it happened?  Well, remembering back to those days, it became clear.  My writing had boiled dry on high heat.  I hadn’t allowed it time to slowly cook and develop.  In hindsight, I should have given myself a few days off from editing and gone back with a fresh outlook.  If I did, I’m pretty sure I would have had a different result.  Beating anything with a stick, day in day out, sure isn’t the way to get what you want.

So lesson learnt.  Put the pen down.  Walk away.  Give it time and space.  Look on it with a clear mind.  It’s amazing what a little (or a lot of) time away can do.

Happy editing 🙂