Time is the best editor.
If you have it, time is the easiest trick for self-editing. Simply put your work away long enough so when you come back to it you can see it with fresh eyes.
Saved by sari and
Time is the best editor. If you have it, time is the easiest trick for self-editing. Simply put your work away long enough so when you come back to it you can see it with fresh eyes.
The kind we love is focused, challenging, sustained, with a pen in hand, making note of new turns of phrase and peculiar, precise words, and feeling our brains get ever-so-slightly reconfigured by the text. The kind of reading we love requires a piece of text be worked over so many times that the author probably never wants to see it again. The kin... See more
Lastly, every time you sit down to write, I encourage you to ask yourself these three questions: “Does this idea fall within one of my three content buckets?” (If not, what can you tweak so that it makes more sense in the context of your library?) “Will this piece stand the test of time?” (If not, what can you change to make it less timely and more
... See moreNicolas Cole • The Art and Business of Online Writing: How to Beat the Game of Capturing and Keeping Attention
In addition to getting to the heart of the work, through this brutal edit we change our relationship to it. We come to understand its underlying structure and realize what truly matters, to disconnect from the attachment of making it and see it for what it is.
Rick Rubin • The Creative Act: A Way of Being
get rid of ‘thought’ verbs
spend six months writing without using ‘I think’, and ‘I feel’ - you’ll be a better writer (show, don’t tell)