I have a confession to make: I don’t like editing.

Writing is fun. Editing is a chore. Not only is it a slow slogg, you have to be ever-vigilant and outright meticulous, both things that I don’t enjoy when reading.

So when I played around with ChatGPT (admit it, you’ve done it too!), on a whim, I asked it what the word “crudmunching” meant in the text I’d fed it. And to tell the truth, ChatGPT’s answer blew me away. (more…)

You’ve finished your first short story. You’re proud, maybe a little scared. And you have no idea what to do next. Should you start editing it? (no) Should you hire an editor? (no) Should you throw it in the trash? (no, no, and a thousand times no)

This is what you do (and I’m fully aware that I’ll get some hate for this, but this is how the writing world works):

You correct any obvious spelling and grammar mistakes, and you send it out to markets that publish this type of story.

Yes, unedited.

Why? Because right now, you’re likely not able to edit it. You don’t have the skills for it. Anything you do to it will make the story worse.

How do you get those skills? (more…)

This one will be shorter, or longer than usual. Mainly due to it being a video where someone else is doing all the talking.

Here’s a 50 minute talk given by David Farland/Dave Wolverton (same person, two names – pseudonym dudes!) at Life, Universe & Everything in 2011. It’s well wroth the watch, especially his Triage Editing (3:20) and his Syllabic Edit (27:45).

Go watch!

Once you’re done, here’s Dave’s website: http://davidfarland.com/ He’s got a great writing newsletter which I subscribe to.