The Importance of Editing
As a writer, I love to help other writers. I spend a lot of my
free time reading and writing online. When searching for a story
online, I eagerly open those with tantalizing descriptions and
titles. At times, I'm disappointed to see the author hasn't
taken the time to correct their spelling or format the story for
easy reading. For most readers, encountering either a solid
block of text and frequent misspellings are reason enough to
skip the story and look for another. I don't skip them, instead
I give a detailed review in hopes that the writer will
appreciate the time taken to give feedback and incorporate the
suggestions into their next story.
This is not to say that I will go line by line and correct the
entire story. If I can tell that the author has made an effort
to present his best to the reader, I will give detailed feedback
on spelling and grammar in addition to the comments on plot and
character development. If the spelling and grammatical errors
are numerous, I will point out a couple of examples and tell the
writer to review their work carefully for more of the same. I'm
always willing to read an item over and give a new review if the
author takes the time to make corrections.
The site I frequent, Writing.Com, is a place for readers and
writers of all levels. I remind myself of this when reading
stories on the site. I'm willing to give feedback on an item if
the author is willing to give their best when posting a story
for public viewing. If I see an author has a pattern of posting
stories with misspelled words, easily fixed by using spell check
either on the site or in a word processing program, I will skip
their future stories and focus on the authors that take the time
to present their best.
I've seen writers complain that correcting spelling and format
drains their creative reserves. This is nonsense. When
presenting a story for public consumption, common courtesy
dictates you make the story easy to read. If the reader has to
stop every other line to figure out what you are trying to
convey, they are likely to close the story without sending a
review. Editing your story prior to posting is the best way to
increase your reviews. If the reader sees that you care enough
about the tale to present the best possible version, they in
turn will care enough to take the time to give feedback.
One lesson aspiring writers must learn is the importance of
editing. Editing your stories prior to posting is not only
smart, it's courteous to your readers. Online writing
communities are formed to help improve the craft of writing, not
to be editors for lazy authors. If you want to succeed as a
writer, learn to edit prior to asking for feedback.