Why We Edit Our Writing

(NOTE: I AM POSTING FOR FRIDAY THURSDAY EVENING AS I AM TRAVELING THE NEXT FEW DAYS. NEXT POST WILL BE TUESDAY, AUGUST 13)

I beg to differ here. You don't 'have' to write unless you want to, but if you're a writer, you might just feel like you do 'have' to right. But that's the lesser part of this post. 

What will happen if you write a draft, read it over and think it sounds pretty good? You might be tempted to start submitting it. And then? More than likely, it is going to bounce back with a rejection. 

There's a reason for editing. It's to make those first drafts a better piece of writing. Some writers edit multiple times. There are even some who keep editing and never submit. The fear factor comes into play in that case. 

More than once, I have urged you to put the first draft in a file and let it sit there while you move on to doing something else. Give it a few days, a week, or more before you make your first edit. Why? Because after that initial piece of writing sits and simmers, you are going to see it with different eyes than the day you finished the first writing. 

You'll see little mechanical errors that are easily corrected. You might notice that one or two areas need clarification. You could notice that your verbs tend to be passive rather than active. There are all kinds of things that show up after you've given that first draft a rest. 

Beginning writers are often eager to start submitting, so they want to skip that time-consuming editing process. My keywords for writers are patience and persistence. Writing a draft, letting it sit a while and then editing require a healthy dose of both those words. Take your time getting a piece of writing ready to submit. Don't rush. If you do, it is going to spiral back to you faster than a jackrabbit crosses the road. 

So, do edit because it is the right thing to do, because it will bring benefits in the long run, because you want to be the best writer you can be.