Thursday, June 12, 2014
Keep Adding
When you're writing a story and later go back and re-read your work, how often do you go, "Oh, I maybe if I add this, it'll make the story flow better"? I sometimes find myself doing that with stories I've written a while back. There constantly seems to be something I can edit or perhaps make better. It can be either a help, or a hindrance. Depending on whether or not I'm on a deadline. Sometimes, those little 'keep adding' moments actually do end up making the story flow better. But the times I'd trying to read my work without doing any major editing, it's certainly not helping me any. I've learned there are times to keep adding to the story and other times I need to simply let it be. How do you do it? When the urge to constantly critique your work arises, how to push past it?
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It is very difficult to put away a manuscript because writers will always find a word that would fit better than the one they used before. I find it easier to avoid perpetual revising by doing it once for weedy words, and again when I read the story from start to finish. Then, after I select a magazine, I revise to make sure it fits the "style" of the magazine. It doesn't help me sell more, but it helps me move on to the next project.
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