Peter Elbow, on editing, assertions, inspiration, and a way to better writing.
Some notes of mine from a book by Peter Elbow about learning to write without teachers I am rediscovering that he seems to be a very good teacher and writer. I am learning from these old notes. Maybe you can learn from them too. I intend to publish some posts dealing with them. This particular post is about editing one's writing.
Mr. Elbow's book was published by Oxford University Press in the early 1970s. It is entitled: Writing Without Teachers. You may want to find a copy for yourself.
From my earlier reading and from my present notes I have come so familiar with Peter Elbow I feel I can call him Peter.
According to Peter, you may come to a point when you say, "I see what I have been driving at; I see what I have been stumbling around trying to say."
When you agree with Elbow, ah, Peter, that editing means figuring out what you really want to say, getting it clear in your head, getting it unified into an organized structure, and then getting it into your best words, and throwing away the rest; at that point you are ready for some editing That seems a bit much and not completely clear. Maybe you ought to read Peter's book.
Time to struggle for the exact phrase, cut out he dead wood. If you find yourself in trouble, it may finally be time to write out an outline.
A useful outline is a list of full assertions - one for each paragraph. Assertions are complete sentences pointing to a real configuration. The list of assertions logically progress to a single assertion. Having done this you have worked your way up to a point at which you can work down through your editing.
When you are interested in improving your writing or just a little inspiration for your writing go to Write With RCS at URL address: https://wwrcs.blogspot.com
by Richard Sheehan
by Richard Sheehan