Short Story Editing by HG Nadel - Cutting Out the Unnecessary
Short stories are just supposed to be that... short. When you are writing creatively it's easy to allow stories and ideas to get out of control. Sometimes you just get to writing and suddenly you are off on a rabbit trail that might make for interesting character insight but really has nothing to do with the plot of the story. When you're writing a short story, editing is going to be your best friend.
First things first, you want to write your story as you wish. Get it all out on paper or in a computer file. You can always go back and edit. You want to get your story out, scene by scene first. You can't decide what's important to the core of the story if it's not there for you to see. Go ahead and write the story. If you are submitting the story for contest then you will need to check and see if there is a page or word limit on the story before submitting it, but that comes during the editing phase.
Once your story is out then it's time to edit. If you have written your short story in a word processing program you might want to print it out. Sometimes it's easiest to correct mistakes with pen or pencil first and then correct them in the file. This way you can ensure the corrections you want to make really are the corrections you need to make.
Let the story sit for a day or two. Before you go marking up your short story you want to come at it with a fresh eye. If you have been looking at the story for several hours then your brain will probably auto correct issues for you, making it appear that the story reads the way you want instead of the way it actually reads. This is the time to step back, take a break, and work on something else for a little while.
Once you've had your break from the story it's time to edit. Mark the obvious problems such as spelling or grammar errors. Next reread the story, this time looking for things that just don't fit. You know the plot better than anyone, if there are rabbit trails or meanderings of thought that really don't go with the story mark them out. If there are sentences or paragraphs that don't' fit with the plot but still don't have to be there in order for the story to move forward then mark them out.
At this point you need to look at the file and see how many pages and how many words it has. Compare this with the contest requirements for short story entries. If there is more that needs to be removed go back through the story with a fine tooth comb removing the parts that just don't matter.
If you have room to grow characters or the plot line and make it more entertaining by all means do so. Often times though, you will find that by writing the entire story out first you will have to remove parts to make it meet submission guidelines. The best way to make sure your creative writing makes the cut is creative editing.
HG Nadel is an American producer born in France. Nadel writes short stories, novels and much more. She is an excellent screenplay and script writer, self published author, recording artist, and a musician.
Nadel shares useful information regarding film script writing and related topics!
Also read here: Why Every Word Counts When Writing Short Story?
First things first, you want to write your story as you wish. Get it all out on paper or in a computer file. You can always go back and edit. You want to get your story out, scene by scene first. You can't decide what's important to the core of the story if it's not there for you to see. Go ahead and write the story. If you are submitting the story for contest then you will need to check and see if there is a page or word limit on the story before submitting it, but that comes during the editing phase.
Once your story is out then it's time to edit. If you have written your short story in a word processing program you might want to print it out. Sometimes it's easiest to correct mistakes with pen or pencil first and then correct them in the file. This way you can ensure the corrections you want to make really are the corrections you need to make.
Let the story sit for a day or two. Before you go marking up your short story you want to come at it with a fresh eye. If you have been looking at the story for several hours then your brain will probably auto correct issues for you, making it appear that the story reads the way you want instead of the way it actually reads. This is the time to step back, take a break, and work on something else for a little while.
Once you've had your break from the story it's time to edit. Mark the obvious problems such as spelling or grammar errors. Next reread the story, this time looking for things that just don't fit. You know the plot better than anyone, if there are rabbit trails or meanderings of thought that really don't go with the story mark them out. If there are sentences or paragraphs that don't' fit with the plot but still don't have to be there in order for the story to move forward then mark them out.
At this point you need to look at the file and see how many pages and how many words it has. Compare this with the contest requirements for short story entries. If there is more that needs to be removed go back through the story with a fine tooth comb removing the parts that just don't matter.
If you have room to grow characters or the plot line and make it more entertaining by all means do so. Often times though, you will find that by writing the entire story out first you will have to remove parts to make it meet submission guidelines. The best way to make sure your creative writing makes the cut is creative editing.
HG Nadel is an American producer born in France. Nadel writes short stories, novels and much more. She is an excellent screenplay and script writer, self published author, recording artist, and a musician.
Nadel shares useful information regarding film script writing and related topics!
Also read here: Why Every Word Counts When Writing Short Story?
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