Booklets - Writing and Editing Hats

You may be familiar with Barbara McNichol and her work. She is our recommend editor for non-fiction publications that are bigger than booklets. She works magic on manuscripts, as some of our authors can tell you. If you are one of those people, please feel free to jump in with your comments responding to this post.

Whether you've met Barbara yet or not, you're sure to find useful the following article that was in her recent newsletter. While some of the suggestions in the article apply to larger works than tips booklets, I want you to have the information anyway. Subscribe to her newsletter and explore her services at www.BarbaraMcNichol.com

You'll thank me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Writing and Editing: Wear Two Different Hats by Barbara McNichol
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just as you’d wear a straw-brimmed hat in the sunshine and a rain cap
in the pouring rain, remember the importance of wearing two different
hats when you’re writing versus editing your nonfiction book.

One hat represents the creative process; the other deals with the critical
process. Attempting to edit as you write can dampen your creativity, as I
learned when working with an author recently. Because she was on a fast
track to get her book printed, she had me editing the beginning chapters
while she was still writing the middle and final chapters. She interrupted
her writing flow to give me feedback on the chapters I’d sent back. It
affected her ability to move forward smoothly with her final chapters, plus
we had trouble keeping track of our progress. What frustration!

In retrospect, we needed to put on the brakes and say, “Each task—writing
and editing— demands a separate and specific focus.” Here are three reasons
why:

• When editing your own work, your mind can fill in, correct, or overlook
  errors. It’s easy to miss things that should be corrected—like missing
  words and inconsistencies.
• When you put a week or two between completing a draft and reviewing
  it, you break the link between what you thought you wrote and what
  you actually wrote.
• Once a first draft is finished, if you rush in to evaluate it too quickly,
  you haven’t allowed your brain to “hang out in the shade and cool.”
  That’s when you mentally step back and “see” gaps in information,
  research, and logic. Taking a “big picture” look also enables you to see
  what fits and what doesn’t.

What can you do to separate writing from editing even more?

• When you reread your work, reformat it by changing the font, margins,
  line spacing, and other elements so it tricks the mind and looks like a
  new document.
• Keep wearing your creativity hat and go through each chapter asking
  these important questions:
  
  1. Is it complete from a content point of view? What’s missing?
  2. Have I included all the facts and stories I want to meet my objectives
  for this chapter?
  3. Can I take out any content that doesn’t fit?

Once you have answered these satisfactorily, you’re ready for the critical
process to take over. While wearing your editing hat, leave behind your
content questions and look for the elements of good writing—style, grammar,
spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and so on. And when you’re ready for
feedback, call in an objective editor who can apply both the creative and
critical process to perfecting your manuscript.

-------------------

Until next time,

Paulette - who is eternally grateful for Barbara McNichol

www.tipsbooklets.com

www.CollectionOfExperts.com