The Purple Pen Unpinned

  

I've written about the editing process before and it's always an interesting topic to explore, after all it's a part of the writing process that is inescapable.

For the past few months, I've been working on the sequel of Thin Skin Soul Pinned and now the editing process has begun. I often wonder, why can't a manuscript be written perfectly the first time? Well, that would be too easy. The writer would have less bruises from the journey. Simply put, the trials of editing gives us personality like the remnants left to remind us of a brawl, scars. We can find and sometimes lose our creativity or build confidence in our craft. Writing  is a chore and editing can arguably be compared to taming a wild boar. A lot goes into the process, but it takes more than creativity, a distinct voice, good penmanship, and discipline to make a story work.

It's important to unleash your inner fierce, explore different art forms to help you fine tune your own. Write. Don't restrict yourself to topics your comfortable with. Arguably, some of the best music came out of the 60s through the 70s and there's a reason for that. They sang of joy, pain, and love like they were drowning in it and made the listener feel whatever they were musing about.

 

There are many tools out there that can make the editing process easier, but  I'd like to highlight one in particular, www.paperrater.com.

It's a free program that may improve  the quality of your work. For example, if you are writing for a certain age group, you can select that option before submitting the text for analysis. It  can also help to  highlight the incorrect usage of words.

 

  Cons: They screen for robot usage. Pardon the static interference while R2D2 stares blankly at the screen on my behalf.

"Editing can be grueling, but it can also be rewarding, especially when you're able to make something that's potentially good better."~ Mila A. Ballentine