Editing is Like Moving Furniture

You should never feel bad about editing your piece of work, as wonderful as it is.

I did a bit of editing just this morning and the half an hour tweak for a writer's blog was just what the guest post needed.

Yes, editing is like moving furniture, but let me explain what I mean.

Editing is not:



Photo by: mrsdkrebs, courtesy of Flickr

Moving your prized (or not so prized) furniture into another room to make another room clean. My office is a mess, so I am trying to clean it out without piling a bunch of stuff into another room. Weeding is good, but so is throwing stuff out, especially if it doesn't work in the new space.

Editing is like moving furniture, yes, but it takes some well thought out moving to eliminate, or move favorite scenes to just the right places.

That's why the third chapter is often the best chapter. Why setting and dialogue needs to be intermixed throughout your story to be effective, and why your story must be read out loud to find those spots that your brain lightly glances over.

Real furniture moving is about throwing it out or placing it somewhere else where it will shine more beautifully.