REWRITING – A NEEDFUL TOOL FOR WRITERS

Last week I was reading a short story online. It was a good story – suspense filled, captivating flow and well described scenes.

But then as I was reading I began to bump into some potholes.
I was irritated and had to stop reading it.
Let me ask you, Have you ever left an article because it was poorly written?
Or better still, Have you ever written a piece only to receive feedback on it saying: “nice concept but please rewrite”?
If you belong to a writing group or work with an Editor, I bet your answer would be yes!

Too many times people neglect rewriting and this leave their pieces poor.
This problem of writing and publishing without rewriting has taken a rather alarming turn nowadays with the advent of blogging and other button push publishing methods.

For most of these writers, it is a publish as the thoughts come. They are in a hurry to get their words in front of their audiences that they neglect rewriting.
Now as I have stated above it affects the quality of pieces. This is why in this post I’d tell you about rewriting and present you with an easy but comprehensive rewriting routine.
Let’s get to it.

Rewriting is a part of the writing process in which the Writer carefully revisits the piece spotting errors, weak/ passive statements and correcting them along the way.
It is a vital part of the writing process.

To easily and effectively rewrite pieces, here’s a simple three Step blueprint I always use.

Steps to Easy Rewriting

1. Slow and Loud Read

In this step you read the piece slowly aloud. Alsomark any area that looks off. Slow reading shows you errors while loud reading tells you how it feels when someone else is reading it. Both of which are valuable points with which you can rate the flow and cohesion of the piece.

2. Silent and Quick Reading

During this stage you reread it silently but briskly still marking anything you see making the piece different from what you mean. Silent and quick read puts you in the shoes of a reader who won’t read it but skim through. Most online readers belong to this category.

3. Last Read and Cutting

At this stage you go through the article replacing all the itches you’ve marked and others that may pop up. After that compare the previous version to the new one and you are ready to publish.

Ending Notes

Now you know about rewriting and how to quickly rewrite a piece. It may surprise you to know that I’ve rewritten this piece under five minutes. With practice you can master the routine and do it in far lesser time.

What’s next? Pick up a piece you wrote some time ago and rewrite it. Also bookmark this and refer to it anytime you need to quickly publish.
How else do I leave you but by quoting E. B. White who once said:

“All great writing is rewriting.”

Remember, rewriting is a part of the writing process.

This article first appeared on Amoson Writes.

Happy writing.