Monday 29 January 2024
It happens. A written draft section requires no cutting, adding, or rearranging. The draft section needs no further alteration. It’s actually good. The draft then can proceed to the next phase of the writing process: editing. Although this assessment seems to be a productive and even a happy one, this determination can bring in a confusing and unsure time. Writing teachers, editors, and readers coach writers to expect to revise our written work; we should expect that revision is a given.
Nonetheless, not every part of the draft needs to be revised, and this reality can make us self-conscious, and force us to look for something, anything to revise. Writers shouldn’t revise just to revise. Just as writers need a writing plan while creating the first draft, writers need revision plans during the revision process. “What is my purpose here in this paragraph?” Or “Have I conveyed my message there?” Among others, these two questions should be on every writer’s mind. And if writers have achieved those goals, then writers need to learn how and when to stop, and not to revise. In this case, forcing a revision can create problems.
My biggest worry while revising is overwriting. Overwriting is excessive writing that focuses on minutiae or writing that is too ornate. It exaggerates the importance of an idea. This kind of writing doesn’t go deeper into the idea, only repeating what’s already been written. Repetition sometimes can serve a purpose. For example, when writers emphasize the importance of a certain point, writers need to write what they have written earlier repeatedly. Repetition becomes overwriting when writers only duplicate that idea, never expanding upon it. When this kind of overwriting happens, overwriting doesn’t propel the idea in new directions; it sinks the idea, remaining stagnant.
Knowing how to identify when you, as a writer, have written everything that is necessary takes practice. Having a thorough and objective book editor does help. What I am beginning to realize during the revision of the Katyn manuscript is I am becoming, I think, a better, more sensitive reader because of the efforts of my book editor, King Arthur. Audience awareness is indispensable for all writers. Writers are after all readers. Writing too often feels like a solitary exercise, and the writer easily can forget that they are writing not only for themselves but others.
Chasing after irrelevant, tangential ideas also is a kind of overwriting. If the “supporting” idea being overwritten isn’t directly connected to or doesn’t obviously fortify or enhance the original idea, then this writing isn’t revision. Sometimes, the cliché, “less is more,” is true.