Creative, expository (or academic)
and business writing all call for different approaches to editing. Each has a
different purpose, a different audience, and so your role as writer changes
too. I will give you an idea of how to approach editing your work (beyond the
obvious spelling and grammar), for each form of writing.
Creative
Writing – to express creative ideas and communicate them to others.
Your role: You are a leader
on a journey. You write to spark the reader’s imagination and take
them with you on your journey. You need to keep them interested.
Reader’s Role: The readers
are your partners or followers. They get to decide whether to go with you or
not.
Your method: You have the
broadest freedom with this kind of writing. You can be descriptive, wide-ranging, and you can use surprise as an element of creativity.
Writing: You will go back
and forth between free writing and editing. You’ll have to
develop your own rhythm. How to write creatively is a large topic. The best
advice I can give you is just do it. Reading a lot will help. Eventually you
will find your own voice. Below are some general guidelines.
Make some general decisions at the
start. Pick out your theme; what is your overall idea? Will the characters
speak for themselves or will there be a narrator? Decide on your mood: Dark,
light? Humorous? Choose your voice: First person? Third
person? Are you going to be writing in the past tense or present tense? You may
change moods, voices, even tenses, but VERY carefully. Even your changes must
be consistent with themselves and each other. You may surprise your readers,
but don’t confuse them.