EDITING…IS IT HEAVEN? OR IS IT HELL?

“I love writing but I hate editing!”   

I often hear that from writers.   But you’ll never hear it from me.   I love editing.  

 “Why would you enjoy nit-picking  your own work?” they ask.”  Why spoil the spontaneous inspiration?   Aren’t in danger of messing it up with too much interference?”  

 Well sure.   Of course  it’s possible to mess things up when you’re  nit-picking for nit-picking’s sake.   But you won’t mess it up when you know what you’re looking for.

Remember when you first got the inspiration to write this story?  Remember how it seem so thrilling?   Remember  all that  potential?   I call that phase The Golden Bubble.  I see that bubble it shining above me.   In it I see glimpses of the finished story.   Glimpses that shine with wit and beauty and wisdom.   Glimpses so seductive that they make me get down the the messy business of writing.

But it never turns out like that.  Characters take unexpected actions, some start taking over, others leave in the second draft.    Themes shift and  expand and  contract and get lost.  The ending, towards which I thought I was wrtiting, changes.   That’s writing.   That’s what happens. 

Then comes the time when all the re-drafting is finished.   The action is in the proper order, the timeline established, the characters alive and kicking, the higlights established, the voice loud and clear. That’s when it’s time for the final edit.   I call this phase, Polishing  the Jewel.  This phase to me is pure delight.   This time I don’t have to wrestle with action or get stuck or wonder how to go on.   It’s all there.   Now it’s my chance to bring it as close as I can to my original Golden Bubble.   

This is where I have to  apply the my writer’s craft.   It is also the time when I have to pay close attention to my writer’s instinct.   It’s not magic.   It’s something anyone can learn.

If you’d like to learn more I’m giving a workshop soon.

WORKSHOP:  POLISHING THE JEWEL

WHEN:             SATURDAY MAY 9TH

WHERE:          CAROUSEL CREATES

COST:               EURO 40

CONTACT DETAILS:     Phone: +353861923613

                                                E-Mail:  [email protected]

                                                Write to us at:

                                                Carousel Writers’ Centre

                                                 ‘Aisling na Smól’

                                                Killakee Rd. Killakee.

                                                 Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.