On editing

I wrote this post for the Editor’s Note in the Sept./Oct. issue of the NARWA newsletter, High Country Highlights.  However, I liked it too much not to share it here on the blog, too.

Since I’m trying to get in edit-mode for the Golden Heart, the subject is dear to me right now. Here goes:

When it comes to progress on my writing, July and August have pretty much been a wash for me.

A vacation from the day job ended up being a break from writing, too. This happened despite the fact that I toted a big binder full of “Blind Date Bride” with me.

It never even left the (very heavy) suitcase. And the few times I found myself with computer time, I spent it catching up on my blog reading (and writing) … and, of course, Twitter.

How did the world ever get along without new tweets to read every few minutes?

At the risk of sounding like a fogey, I’ll say we were all probably a lot less distracted.

But change is good, so we all need to embrace the technology of the future. Right?

Right.

I’ve recently discovered that I don’t like change all that much. Oh, I suppose I should have realized this about myself years ago, when I balked every time the school cafeteria tried to serve me waffles and sausage for lunch … or when the thought of changing the way we do something at work makes me grumble both loudly and repeatedly.

Well, I finally got it: Given a choice, I prefer things to stay the way they are. Even when things aren’t quite perfect, I’d rather not alter them. Better the devil you know …

I suspect my aversion to change is also why I have trouble editing my writing.
Of course I know there’s room for improvement, because there’s always room for improvement.

But where I have no trouble thinking of ways to change someone else’s prose, I often come up empty when I try to improve my own. Sure, I might tweak a word here and there, but I rarely do a complete overhaul.

I like to think it’s because I spend enough time crafting sentences the first time that they already sing.

In reality, I’m probably just being a little lazy and a lot resistant to change.

I’ll say it again, mostly to convince myself: Change is good.

As I delve into preparing for the 2011 Golden Heart contest, I’m going to keep that in mind.

Do you have any fail-safe, foolproof editing tips to share?