Turning Memories Into Memoirs®
EDITING TECHNIQUES
for LIFESTORY WRITERS
The fact is, writing is a craft and it has its own set of tools to be mastered. Like other crafts, writing can be learned best through practice. Whether or not you happen to have a jump start of talent for putting words together, you'll find that practicing the skills of writing by writing regularly is the best way to be effective.
The first draft is your raw material. Shaping it into the most effective story possible is an important next step that can be done more easily if you have the right tools- and an unbiased eye. That's where editing comes in.
In the Turning Memories Into Memoirs® workshops, we emphasize the importance of this stage of writing by training all participants to be editors of each other's work and of their own.
A good editor is a co-creator of your manuscript, but it's still your manuscript. You can accept or reject suggestions. By getting feedback from someone who doesn't know the story already, who only knows what the story itself tells him, you can make changes and adjustments that will clarify and strengthen your work.
Working with an editor can make a good story or book an outstanding one. Serious writers always work with editors, whether that person is a professional you hire for her experience and expertise, a fellow lifewriter or a volunteering friend. Don't overlook the value of an editor as a key resource for your writing success.
Practice makes perfect: you can acquire the skills to edit your own work before you share it with others.
To be a good editor yourself first ask, what is the author attempting to achieve? Is the content complete? Are the effects successful. Then, what techniques could the writer use to achieve these goals? Has the writer used a variety of elements?
Exercise for Concisesness & Completeness:
1. Eliminate redundancy. In describing a scene by using both narrative and dialogue, it is unnecessary to give the same information twice.
She was hungry when we picked her up at the station. "I'm starved," she told us.
Now ask why you have repeated yourself. Was it for emphasis? Try inserting a vivid sense detail instead.
When we picked her up at the station, we saw that her cheeks were a feverish red and her eyes were too bright. "I'm starved," she said.
Was it an attempt to approach a fact or conclusion you are reluctant to state clearly? An important factor in lifewriting is honesty- with yourself. When you have been honest with yourself, you can separately decide how much and which details to share with others. Try writing in circles around a difficult topic to approach your own true understanding of an event or relationship. Much of what you journal in this way around a specific topic will not be part of your final written piece.
I couldn't believe Uncle Bud would send her on a long trip like that without enough money to buy a sandwich. It seems typical of him and Alice not to think of how it would be for a little girl on a train by herself going to a place and people she didn't know. I guess I should feel more compassion. It was a hard time for them too, after Billy died. It brings up all my memories of Dad's criticism of Mom's family: that they were thoughtless and disorganised and couldn't get a job done. And of course when Terry arrived sick and lonely and sad, it wasn't what I was expecting. I had thought we'd have a brief, sweet vacation time together. I had no idea I'd be taking her to the hospital and taking on all those bills for her treatment. It made me pretty scared and really mad at Uncle Bud.
After journaling like this, go back to the scene you are writing. How can you include all the feeling and energy of your journal entry without revealing more than you feel comfortable with and without repeating yourself ineffectively?
Use a variety of elements: narrative description, dialogue, action.
The station was crowded with supper-time commuters rushing toward home. We almost didn't notice Terry when she got off the train. She was standing uncertainly, looking around somewhat fearfully, and my heart sank when I saw her. Ned pushed his way toward her and I followed, glad for his solid protectiveness in the chaos of the crowd. She was exhausted and weak.
Working with others will help you to develop better editing skills for your own work.