Finding coherence

Small scale editing refers to sentence and word level editing. This is where we move from assembling the chapter (structure, headings, paragraphs) to the finer craft or artisanal work. Where we start to think about accessibility, clarity and elegance of the prose. For writers who largely see themselves as craft writers, this is their favourite occupation but it is a very dangerous stage. 

We are not yet at the stage of polishing. We are largely trying to make sure that our writing is coherent, and at the small scale edit stage, we are making sure that our sentences actually say something meaningful. Verbs are present. We are not yet agonising over which verb we use, whether our tenses move around, or how to rid ourselves of too many adverbs or passive tense. This comes later.

Now we are working with communicating our meaning, so the small scale edit should focus on that. Do not wander off into the territory of staring at a sentence for minutes on end or deleting and re-writing every other word. Small scale drafting is about coherence only, and should only be done once. One single read through of the chapter.

Read the chapter without a pen. Then with a pen make checkmarks against offending sentences, writing a list as you go. Then work your way down the list.

There is time for perfectionism later. Stick to revising the meaning and coherence of the ideas for now.

TODAY I WILL…

• Write for 2 hours 15 minutes working my way down my task list;

• Schedule a session of social writing this week;

• Schedule a writing slot in a new writing place;

• If I am at this stage, try a small scale edit of my text.