Self-Editing Fast and Dirty by Nancy McCurry
By Jerry D. Simmons | September 1st, 2007 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Every manuscript can use pruning, cutting away unnecessary words. There ends up being a number of very common terms and phrases overused in manuscripts. A lot of these words can be taken right out with little effort, which will tighten the work considerably. Peter Elbow, a well-known educator in writing, says, “Every word omitted keeps another reader with you.”
Here’s a great trick. FIND. Use Ctrl+F in MS Word to help in your revision.
(PC users: Hold down the Control key and then press F, or you can go right to Edit/Find. Mac users: Apple+F.)
When the Find and Replace window comes up, a good idea is to fix a very common problem right off. Not everyone suffers this, but I see it in about 90% of the manuscripts I read: the word alright.
Alright is really two words: all right. This tiny fact surprises almost everyone. For a fast fix, click the REPLACE tab and in the FIND WHAT window type alright, then in the REPLACE WITH window type all right.
Now you’ll decide if you want to go through the manuscript and find examples one at a time or slay them all at once. If you want to go slowly, click FIND NEXT and then hit REPLACE and Word will let you change every example yourself, one at a time. If you want to go fast, click REPLACE ALL.
This technique works when you change a character’s name or a locale and you need to be sure all the references have been caught. FIND can be a writer’s best friend. Use this function to ferret out disposable words. When you open that window again go to the FIND tab and check your document for these words (one at a time): just, to, of, that. Then hit FIND NEXT.
You’ll see those words can often be lifted right out of the text. Take a look as the examples are brought on stage and see if you can take these words away or slightly reconstruct the sentence to work around their eradication. Sometimes you’ll find they’re necessary, but a great many can be vaporized, which can work to tighten your writing.
This technique also works for “is” and “was.” But before you cull those two words preemptively, let them do a little work before they go. If you’re working in past tense—and most people are—the word “was” might easily be present in your text, but if the word “is” shows up it might indicate a shift in tense.
(This works the other way too, if you’re working in present tense you might shift to past.) Doing a FIND can help you detect tense shifts you might not have intended. When you’re done examining the context of “is” and “was,” get rid of as many examples of those two words as you can. A large percentage of superfluous words can be erased without damaging the sentence. Other times it might take a little reconstruction, but will be well worth your time. Do the same with the word “it.” As you find “it” in your manuscript, take careful note about whether or not you should be using another word in its place to more clearly illuminate your topic. Be mindful here. This very generic pronoun can cause undue ambiguity in your text, and that’s never good.
Most writers have a word or phrase they overuse. If you know yours, try this technique. It can be a real education.
Finally, search your manuscript for “ly.” Every usage should be looked at and considered. Cutting the adjective/adverb alone can strengthen the sentence right away. Adverbs and adjectives in your narrative can offer places for stronger verbs or nouns.
Keep in mind this is a quick fix, but one which can help clean up a draft and allow you to look at sentences in a nonlinear context that will speed and tighten your revision.
~ www.NancyMcCurry.com
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