Seeing the big picture

[John Dean]

Writers, even the biggest names with many millions of sales behind them, will readily acknowledge that they are always learning. I certainly am, striving to make sure that the next sentence, the next paragraph, the next novel is better than the one it follows.

Editing is where a lot of that learning takes place, both through the writer’s actions and those excellent professionals who handle their work at publishers like The Book Folks.

When you say “editing,” many writers think of grammar or punctuation. Yes, it is good to have all your commas in the right places and to make sure you get the spelling right but the first step is to edit for story structure before you edit for grammar and punctuation. Does the plot hold together? Can the reader follow it?

I recently came across an excellent quote from Stephen Koch, of the Modern Library Writer’s Workshop, who summed it up when he said: “Get away from the role of the writer so you can be your own first reader.”

It’s excellent advice.