When you write a story, you’ll inevitably run into some problems with it. You may have trouble making the plot flow smoothly or you may find the characters uninteresting or annoying. You’re probably going to stumble upon some grammatical errors along the way as well. Even if you’ve got an expert eye for editing, there will still be a lot of errors that need your attention.
There are things that you can do to make your writing stand out to a professional eye. One of the best things that you can do for your manuscript is to hire an editor who has experience in creative writing. They can help you pinpoint all of the problems with your piece and give you some solid advice on how to make it better. If you don’t want to spend lots of money on an editor, there are things that you can do yourself to make your writing stand out. This article will tell you about some of these things so that you can edit creative writing effectively.
Rewrite And Redraft
When you’re first drafting a story, it’s a good idea to just throw out all of the existing text and start from scratch. This can help you see the story from a different perspective and catch some errors that you may have missed. After you’ve written the first draft, go back and add details, characters, and events to make it more interesting. At this point, you’re essentially rewriting the work and it’s a good idea to do this about ten to fifteen percent of the time. This will help you identify problems in the story while making it more interesting to the reader. It’s a constant back-and-forth process that will make your story much better than it would have been otherwise.
Once you find a good professional editor, you can ask them to take a look at your work and offer their suggestions on how you can make it better. Just be sure to listen to what they have to say because they have experience in editing highly complex material and can point out some things that you may have overlooked. When you’ve got someone who knows what they’re doing, it can be a powerful tool for improving your writing.
Use Simpler Language
Another thing that you can do to make your writing stand out is to use simpler language. This can be a difficult thing to do, especially if you’re not used to writing in a simpler way, but it can make a world of difference when it comes to the overall tone and sense of your story. For example, instead of saying “he took out his sword and stabbed it into the ground,” try saying “he drew his sword and held it over the table.” Using simpler language will help make your writing more accessible to a wider audience and will allow people from all walks of life to understand what’s going on. It also helps when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO) because simpler language is usually easier for search engines to understand.
Short And Sweet
Another thing that you can do to make your writing stand out is to keep it short and sweet. This can be difficult if you’ve got a lot of detailed material that you need to get through, but instead of rambling on for several pages, keep it brief and punchy. There is no fixed amount of space that you need to give your story, so you can always cut out some of the extra details and make it shorter. Sometimes, you may even want to condense multiple stories into one novel-length work (known as a novella). By doing this, you can pack a lot of narrative into a shorter space and make it more accessible to a wider audience. One of the best things about this technique is that it will make your writing punchier and more interesting.
Focus On One Main Character
One of the things that can make or break a story is the main character. They are the ones that the audience is meant to identify with and like or dislike based on their actions. In most cases, the protagonist is someone who is on the right side of the moral spectrum and tries to do the right thing. If you’ve got a more complex story with several side characters, try and focus on one of these characters in particular and give them a voice of their own. This can help add more depth to your story and make the reader care more about what happens to them.
If you’ve got a multi-generational story, you may want to focus on the interaction between the characters rather than individual scenes of growth. This can be a useful strategy if your story is meant to be long-form and you want to keep the pacing of the story consistent throughout. It also means that you’ll have to keep extending the story in terms of time passing rather than just adding more pages.
Avoid Using Present Tense
Another thing that you can do to make your writing stand out is to avoid using present tense. You may think that it’s easy enough to slip into the habit of writing in the present tense, but you’d be surprised at how many people do it unintentionally. This can be a real pain when you’re editing the story because it makes it hard to know where you are in terms of time. Instead of using present tense, you can try saying things in the past tense or using the gerund (a verb that ends in -ing) to create a present tense feeling. As a rule of thumb, stick to the past tense when narrating the actions of a character, while using the present tense for the character’s thoughts and feelings.
Proofread And Edit
When you’re editing your story, one of the best things that you can do for it is to go through it again and again to proofread it thoroughly. This is especially important for the first draft because there will inevitably be typos and poor word choices that you’ll have to fix. Once you’ve done this, you can go back and make some more changes based on what you’ve learned from the previous read-through. When you’re editing your story, you should look for places where you can see the narrative flow better and where you’ve used dull language or lacking in the right details. When you’re editing your story, it’s also a good idea to find the right publisher and/or agent to take it on. Having the right people on your side can make a massive difference in terms of how well your story is going to be received and it can mean the difference between a successful or a failed publication.
As for the story itself, make sure that it’s written in the first person and that it follows a clear and concise narrative structure. Make sure that you’ve got adequate dialogue and that it’s interesting and fresh. The ending should be satisfying and the entire story should flow well throughout. If you want to write creatively, make sure that you develop a good rhythm and keep your prose flowing smoothly.
If you’re looking for tips on how to write creatively in general, check out these articles: https://www.outside.com/travel/blog/tips-for-traveling-to-places-with-no-direct-connections/ and https://www.outside.com/travel/blog/how-to-write-a-guide/.
Ultimately, the best piece of advice that you can give yourself when it comes to writing creatively is to just go for it. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and make some mistakes because at the end of the day, that’s what makes your work unique and interesting.