Quite rightly, you will have been told to stifle your inner editor when creating. Cover her mouth with Elastoplast and stick her behind a locked door when doing your first draft. (For good advice on that process download this free poster from copyblogger -it works for illustrators too.)
Work on a sketch for 10 minutes - yes, that means you, writer or illustrator
Keep your door shut.
Do not stop
Do not think
Do not edit If you’re stuck for an idea, try here Writing prompt generator
Then when you’ve done, open your door, brew some tea, cut some cake and invite your inner editor back in. Be nice to her. Relax. Talk about the weather.
Then get down to business.
Look at what you’ve done with a curious gaze. What’s good about it? (There will be something) Pick one dominant aspect – the spirit of the ideal version beneath the mess on the paper. Celebrate.
Now examine every word, line, colour or pixel. Does it bring out that underlying spirit? Tweak, remove or do it again till it does. Work swiftly and decisively. Trust yourself.
Opinion bit
The two-part exercise above is a microcosm of the creating-editing dialogue throughout your whole work. Just remember that conversation works best when both listen and take turns.
Editing is like educating – you are ‘bringing forth’. That could mean stripping away excess material to reveal the story (like weeding an overgrown garden) or it might mean adding to it, letting the work grow into itself. The intention, whether it’s your own work or someone else’s, is to make the piece more the thing that it is. In the same way you’d listen to a good teacher, listen to your editor.
By Philippa R. Francis who writes as K. M. Lockwood
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Really like the idea that editing is 'bringing forth' the story. Thanks Philippa.
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