Enhancing the Impact through Modification: A Focus on Revision
In a guest post, acclaimed author Doug Lewars shares his insights on honing writing skills and becoming a better editor. With ten books published on Smashwords.com, Lewars has plenty of experience to draw from.
Lewars emphasises the importance of tight writing, where every word and sentence contributes something new and keeps the message clear, engaging, and efficient. To achieve this, he recommends focusing on choosing precise words, eliminating repeated ideas, and cutting unnecessary qualifiers or intensifiers.
One key strategy is to use concise language, removing filler words like "completely," "very," or "absolutely" that add little meaning. Preferring active voice for clearer, more direct sentences is another tip. Avoiding overlapping meaning, such as using "old adage," which is redundant because adage implies old, is also important.
While editing, Lewars advises reading the text slowly, questioning whether each word or sentence repeats information already stated; if so, remove or rephrase it. Using a dictionary or thesaurus to spot adjectives or adverbs duplicating the noun or verb meaning can also help.
Varying sentence structure and length keeps writing dynamic and engaging. Avoiding clichés, alliteration, and unnecessary parenthetical remarks is crucial, as they can clutter writing. Considering having someone else review your work to catch redundancies you might miss is another valuable tip.
Lewars warns against redundancies and awkward phrasing in writing. He advises against being uncomfortable with surroundings and abandoning new friends just because they live in less desirable areas. He believes that potential learning experiences can be found in locations where authors display their unedited work.
Lewars found that one common mistake was using names too frequently when a pronoun would suffice. For example, replacing "Raymond Perricord" with "he" improves the flow of a sentence. He also suggests saving the document as a PDF file and using Adobe Reader to have the computer read the page out loud to catch misspellings and errors.
However, Lewars notes that works by prominent authors have likely been professionally edited and may not yield many improvements. He also discusses the importance of not always following grammar rules if it suits the character's voice, citing an example from a character named Raymond who is being recruited into a cult, though he is unaware of it.
By following these tips, writers can improve their writing skills and become better editors, making their work clearer, more engaging, and more efficient.
