Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Writing Tips - 6

The difference between editing and revising:

Rough Draft:
"the ball struck bill on the forehed when he wasnt looking."

Editing, Final Draft:
"The ball struck Bill on his forehead when he was not looking."

Revising, Final Draft:
"Bill, looking the other way, turned in time to get smacked in the head by an errant baseball."

Editing takes something you have and refines it to the best it can possibly be. It's like upgrading from a McDonald's plain hamburger to a Big Mac. You're still eating at McDonald's. Revising is like heading to a nice five star restaurant and ordering a mouth-watering T-Bone steak.

Do more revising, and worry less about editing. Most likely, you're not famous, so the people reading your work are actual friends. And if you are famous, you have an editor anyway.

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