Writing that does not work should be cut aggressively. Spend time improving already good writing. Or be happy with what you have and move on to the next project. Everyone benefits from this.
You sit down to read a draft of something with so much potential. There is flow. Words become imagination. You feel a connection with the writer.
Then you stumble. Something is wrong on the page.
How much attention should you give to writing that is not working?
I stand firmly on the side that when the stumble happens, you must cut, cut, and cut a whole lot more.
Three people are involved in writing: The Writer, The Editor, and The Reader. One person can be all three.
Being ruthless in editing is all upside to all three.
For The Writer: The enemy of the writer is an obsession with perfection. You edit a piece of writing and feel great about it, but do not hit publish. Then you come back a few days later and hate it. Repeat the process. Writers are fickle people prone to imposter syndrome and are likely to give up and do anything else with their lives, no matter how miserable the lack of writing makes them. Writing is awful and we all secretly hate it, but we must do it. For that reason, you sap your already fragile creative energy when you try to fix writing that does not work. You must make progress. You must be dispassionate about your words. Words are a renewable resource. You can not run out of words. Cut and feel good enough to hit publish and move on.
For The Editor: It is easy to explain to a writer why something is not working and why it needs to be cut. It takes way too much time to explain to a writer how to fix writing that is not working. Never acknowledge a writer when they ask how to fix writing that is not working. You will spend an inordinate amount of time on a single section that will only ever be acceptable at best. Always redirect the writer to spend their time “punching up” already good writing.
For The Reader: Do not take for granted that when someone is connected to clear, concise, and engaging writing, they fill in the blanks. While it might seem important for the writer or editor to spend time trying to fix something, the reader really will not miss it much. One of my favorite books is “Writing Tools: 55 Essential Writing Strategies for Every Writer” by Roy Peter Clark. In one of the chapters, the author writes that Thomas Wolfe’s editor cut four pages that described Wolfe’s Uncle into one line: “Henry, the oldest, was now thirty.” Did the reader need 1,000 or more words describing Henry? Thomas Wolfe certainly thought so, but his editor wisely recognized that it does not add anything to the story and fails to benefit the reader.
Editor, writer, and reader must all agree, cut it if it does not read right. Or find a way to rewrite it into one short sentence. Either way, you will be a more effective, productive, and joyful writer, editor, and reader.
