Polishing and Editing:       By Shane Lee

The first thoughts that go through an experienced writer’s mind when they read this article’s title probably include “Whoever proofread this didn't do a very clean job.”

Most writers develop a keen eye for small nitpicks—it is extremely helpful, if not absolutely vital. Unless done intentionally to mimic a specific tone or voice, good writing tends to be concise and exact—devoid of emphases common in everyday speech, which a writer might easily and unwittingly add into their prose when churning out pages and pages of his or her masterpiece. It usually takes a few (or dozen) rewrites before a piece of writing is ready for submission—and even then it might not be perfect

Inevitably, each writer will have different habits and tendencies regarding editing, from things such as whether they do it on paper or computer to how much time is left between each edit and how thorough they are. Some writers may have a publishable manuscript at by the second edit, while others require several dozen minor and major adjustments before it gets anywhere close. Ultimately, you will do what works for you, but it is important to understand the importance of every single word and phrase, be it poetry or long-form narrative.

Many common ‘mistakes’ are grammatically correct, but obstruct the story and are almost universally understood to be detrimental. The best cure for this is already on our submissions page: read a lot, write a lot, and read what you write a lot.

The depth of these edits can be surprising for beginning writers—writing is a lot more precise than some might think. Let us take the example of a man running away:

One of the first things to consider is the use of “the man” over a pronoun. Usually this would depend on context, where you want emphasis on the text, and whether it clashes with other descriptions, especially if there is another male described. Rhythm needs to be considered as well.

Another issue is the placement of “quickly”. It can be phrased as shown in the example above or, alternatively, it can read “the man ran quickly away”. Again, this usually depends on context and rhythm. To illustrate this point, let us reveal the elipticized part of the sentence.

Suddenly it becomes obvious that quickly shouldn’t go into the end. Diction depends on many things including the sound and tone of words (for example Germanic and Latinate words have different effects, the former usually harsher or more direct, the latter softer but perhaps weaker), the etymology (different words have different connotations, which can sometimes work for or against your piece), and finally, the sound of the word.

In this case, the issue is rhyme. While some writers (though not many) might use rhyme intentionally in prose, it is quite rare and, especially when it’s unintentional, can actually distract your readers. Having an –ie sound at both the start and end of the sentence, for example, would make the sentence too rounded, whereas you might want a sharper, faster pace.

One solution would, of course, to move the “quickly” behind “ran”, but how about:

This does fix the rhyme problem, and with that resolved, we now begin a game of ‘find the right verb/adverb,’ with “sprinted away” still seeming a bit clunky.

Of course, it’s possible to simply remove “where he was going” and have:

After all, that bit isn’t strictly necessary, and it’s the length of the first sentence that clashes rhythmically with the latter. Of course, the minimalist inside may simply decide that it's easiest to say:

After all, it’s implied through context that he is running for his life, so the rest is redundant. After all that thinking you may easily end up with only the bare bones.

Which is okay—don’t be afraid to. In fact, never cling onto bits that you feel attached to—always read objectively, thinking from a reader’s point of view: does it work? Usually this means omitting a lot. An edited version tends to be shorter than the old one. Different writers have different styles and such, but as a rule of thumb, Verbs > Nouns > Adverbs > Adjectives > Adjectives with a common suffix (stupidly, hesitatingly).

These are some of the most common things writers consider diction in their works. There are lots of books that deal with the issue in detail. You can check them out in our resources section.