Tips 'N Treats: Week 22

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I’ve got some exciting news! I’m thrilled to announce I’ll be teaching my first class through Savvy Authors this fall. Self-Editing from Page 0 will cover methods for pre-writing and how to edit as you go without getting caught in the “first chapter perfection” trap. You’ll leave with actionable ways to make your first drafts cleaner and less confusing. The class will run from Oct 19-25, and registration is open until Oct 21.

~Register here! Use code SELFEDITINGDESANTIS2020 to save $5 until Oct 12.

If you’re anything like me, you’re a pantser, which means outlines make no sense and you hit the ground running on page one. Everything chugs along beautifully up to your inciting incident. Suddenly, there are multiple possibilities for your plot and so many choices for your characters to make. And…omigod! My heroine feels so flat, and there’s a half-elf who needed to be introduced on page twelve, and I’ll just go back and add in this one thing. I won’t edit. I’ll just…oh, a misspelling. Let me fix that…another one…why are the love interest’s eyes suddenly blue instead of green…?

And just like that, the forward momentum dies as you fall into the editing-to-perfection trap.

Sound familiar?

You’ve probably heard not to edit until you finish the rough draft, that getting the story down is the most important thing. But hearing is a lot different than understanding how to do that when it feels like your story is falling to bits. You aren’t alone, and I’m here to impart some hard-earned wisdom about how to edit as you go without getting trapped. And even how to edit before you write a single word.

Hope to see you there!

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Guest Tip

This week, I’m pleased to welcome Judy Hagey to Tips ‘N Treats. She’s here with some wise words about the difference between repetition and redundancy. Take it away, Judy.

Is There an Echo in Here?

Some years ago, a discount department store ran an ad in which two similarly dressed persons appeared. The announcer—in a loud, annoying voice—called out article after article: a dress shirt from a high-priced department store compared to a similar shirt from the discount store. “It’s the same thing.” After each item—the slacks, the tie, the shoes—he repeated in the increasingly obnoxious tone, “It’s the same thing.”

Editors are trained to look for repetitions and redundancies. And no, they are not the same thing.

Repetition is unnecessarily repeating something. Most often, I attribute this to a copy and paste gone wrong. In the process of rearranging a piece, a writer accidentally copied a section rather than cutting and pasting into the new location. Or she inadvertently repeats a thought—perhaps using slightly different words. In nonfiction, restating or summarizing a concept is not only acceptable, but also a good technique to ensure the reader understands and remembers the point. Repeatedly uttering the same concept, however, even using different wording, will annoy the reader.

Redundant means something is no longer useful or needed. In technology professions, redundancy is built into operations. You likely know there’s more than one way to complete an operation on your computer. NASA devises more than one way for a task to be accomplished. If one method fails, there’s a backup. But readers expect—and deserve—our writing to be concise.

Redundant words can be eliminated from our writing without losing the meaning. Many redundant phrases have slipped into our speech. We tend not to notice or care as much when we hear them as when we see them in print. But it’s important to eliminate redundancies like the following in our writing.

  • absolutely essential
  • basic necessities
  • former memory
  • future planning
  • end result

In each phrase, eliminating the first word not only does not change the meaning but strengthens the writing. For more redundant phrases to avoid, see Mark Nichol’s post at Daily Writing Tips.

A close cousin to redundancy is wordiness. Wordiness comes in several forms. Here are two practices to develop that will make your writing tighter.

Remove qualifiers. These are modifiers that limit or enhance the meaning of other words. Words like little, very, rather, really, somewhat. This is one of the simplest ways to eliminate wordiness. Mark Twain offers this direct advice: “Substitute damn every time you’re inclined to write very. Your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.”

Eliminate empty words. Good writing is concise. Its impact is in the power of the right word in the right place. Avoid words with little or no meaning or value. A frequent offender today: literally. Others to watch out for include phrases such as: in the process of, whether or not, in order to, and needless to say.

Once again Twain again offers succinct advice: “… use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences … don’t let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in.” In other words: Keep it plain and simple.

I’ve been editing for ten years and currently freelance for several publishers as well as my own clients. Language is one of God’s good gifts to us and one of my highest values is ensuring that we communicate with clarity and excellence. I find a great deal of pleasure in helping authors use the right word at the right time.


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