The days are zooming by! By providence, we’re able to stay in FI for an extra month, and I’m overjoyed at this privilege. Here are a few photos:
Being in a quiet place has allowed me to complete a revision in two months. I’m now 40 pages into a line edit, which I also use to make sure my facts are correct. This is both the fun and the hard part because you have to correct some of your less than great writing, fix punctuation and grammar errors, and work word by word! But, on the other hand, you have the pleasure of getting the work just the way you want it, though, for many writers, this is the real torture: having to commit to your work.
How to do a line edit/continuity pass:
1. Print a hard copy. I work on a hard copy using a colored pen (never red!) and make corrections by hand before correcting the typed manuscript.
2. Read slowly and resist the desire to judge the work. This takes discipline. Assume that work is good. It just needs some housekeeping.
3. Work chapter by chapter or scene by scene in a feature or TV script.
4. I also read any dialog aloud. There are several reasons for this:
-When you read aloud, you hear all of the mistakes.
-When you write by hand instead of on a computer, you use a different part of your brain, which allows you to see your work freshly.
-If you work all the way through by hand and then put in the changes from the ending to the beginning, you’ll find it easier to keep track of your pages.
-It’s so easy to think the work is done because it looks tidy. By using a real pen and marking up the actual paper, the messiness of the page will inspire and open opportunities to deepen and refine your work.
5. Now enter the revisions into your typed manuscript, and if working on a book, assign chapter breaks and name them if that’s how you want to present. In a screenplay, you would reorganize the script where necessary using How To Write A Screenplay to break down your screenplay into sequences and work from there.
6. Work from the end back to the beginning. You will see the work freshly, so instead of being a tedious chore, you will experience new insights and polish the draft. Also, it will be easier to keep track of the two versions.
The goal is to efficiently create and complete your work in the least amount of time. Life is short and there’s no time like the present to get your work completed.
I am excited to present Episode #82 of jokeonastick!
Here’s to your successful writing,
Professor Marilyn Horowitz
