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Writer's pictureBy Jason D. Essex

General Rules for Self Editing and Improving Your Content.

Greetings!


I have over a dozen published works in digital form online with a range of topics.


Finding out the costs to publish, edit, promote and to produce a work is difficult. If you are the writer of said work you also have to cobble together your thoughts, ideas, concepts, story, characters, settings and timeline let alone your setting.


This doesn’t sound easy, does it?


Let’s take a quick look at how to improve each to better ensure that the overall read goes well:


Thoughts: Scribble them down and organize them as needed. You are most probably not going to have a clear story from the begging right away. You will need to add in content to better round these thoughts out. Not to worry; you can start from any point in the story that you want too!


Ideas: Write out a quick general overview of what you want the story to lead to with minimal details. If you cannot make the story work see if you can use part of it towards a different ending, beginning or outcome. Be sure to think ahead as you are writing. How long will it take to reach the goal(s) that you want to accomplish?


Concepts: If you are writing something in a given setting your concepts will be different than if you tell the story from the point-of-view of another setting. Example: Telling a story with the characters living in a dessert will be different than telling it from the setting of a constantly cold climate.

Story: The story revolves around characters and how they interact with one another. They will work their way through conflicts and events that have, or will, transpire. A handful of characters support the primary character. They assist in overcoming, or placing, obstacles in their path. Their body language, actions, reactions, deeds and word use can further ensure that the story remains original to your writing style.


Characters: Detailed descriptions are of critical importance. Describing them through the story in different states, and in a variety of garb, is also important. Each will have traits, personalities and a sense of humor. Keep in mind that the main character becomes stronger when you round out the other characters involved.


Settings: The location, weather, historical events, pop culture and fashion of a given area should also be considered. If a character doesn’t have something that they should for such a setting consider why that is the case and work it into the story. Perhaps they lost their cell phone, tablet or laptop? Their car, or other form of transportation, is in the shop? Think about it and add this into the story if needed. Consider including details about reclaiming it/them at a later date and time.


Timeline: How long will this story take? Will you have an opportunity to jump several days, or weeks, ahead or to the recent past? How would this change aspects of those within the story?


Other considerations: This is really basic and straight forward. Most writers realize this early on, but the following should be observed to better ensure that the story is clear and coherent:


Are you telling it in a first person perceptive?


Is it being written in a past or present tense?


Do other characters “see” the story and participate in observing it?


How detailed are the backgrounds and interactions?


Are your sentences clear and to the point?


Do you have a consistent spacing for your lines?


A paragraph is normally from 3 to 5 sentences.


Have you let your content “sit” for a few days, or longer, and looked at it again?



I hope this quick blog was useful to you in some small way.


Have a good day!


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