Its a good idea to proof, edit, and rewrite your work. No writing is perfect at first and so rewriting is essential. Read your writing out loud to hear mistakes, pacing, and word choice. You will catch many things that need to be changed once you hear them.
Writing is only half of the task of the writer. After the first draft has been written, a professional writer will edit and do a lot of rewriting. Ernest Hemingway was asked why he rewrote a story tens, and even hundreds, of times after the first draft. He said, “To get the words right.” Magic doesn’t flow out of the pen (or computer) the first go round. Editing and rewriting makes the magic happen. Rewriting is on the path to publication. Don’t expect an editor to do it for you.
Using the words THAT and WHO without thinking is a common writing and speaking error. THAT should only be used when talking about things or objects. WHO should be used when talking about people. Incorrect usage: She was the one that was involved in the accident. Correct usage: She was the one WHO was involved in the accident. Incorrect usage: They were the people that started the company. Correct usage: They were the people WHO started the company.
The best time to write is first thing in the morning, right after waking, especially if you are doing creative writing. In the early hours, before I have rubbed sleep out of my eyes, I am in what I call a wakeful, sleeping state. It is the time of day when I am most relaxed and when ideas flow in free-association. The best ideas, and a non-judgmental flow of ideas that come easily is possible right after waking. It’s the best way to start a day, and by getting started first thing in the morning, you keep any resistance to or fear of writing at bay.
People who can’t write and who have no knowledge of grammar write volumes, throwing nonsensical sentences on web sites, advertisements, and small newspapers in garish shows of ignorance. If they have given themselves the power to edit the writing of others, they edit and rewrite grammatically correct sentences into stupidity, with the best intentions that ignorance and ego has to offer. It would be so much nicer if they went back to school, attended writing courses, and learned how to write.
It takes courage to create, courage to write, courage to be different, courage to dare to succeed where others have failed (because they lacked courage), and they condemned all acts of creativity. No one can give you the strength and courage to create the art you know you should be doing, except you. Give yourself permission to be who you were meant to be.
People who have no more than a high school education, and who have no more skill or talent in writing and editing than an inflated ego (and ignorance), become editors of small town newspapers so they can make hash of good writing.
Writing is an act of faith. When the writer begins a story, s/he has to have faith that s/he will complete the story, even if it is a novel or nonfiction book. S/he has to have faith that s/he can sustain the work, one word at a time, one paragraph at a time, one page at a time until the end. S/he has to have faith that all the problems that need to be solved during the writing will be solved, one idea at a time. S/he has to have courage and faith to edit and rewrite until everything in the work feels right. Most of all, the writer has to have faith in one’s self, and that everything will work out right in the end.
While the words further and farther are used interchangeably and indiscriminately by many speakers and writers, each word has its own rule for correct usage. Strictly speaking, the word FARTHER should be used only to designate physical distance. ”We walked farther than we planned.” ”The farthest he had traveled was to the next town.” ”Ohio is farther from Connecticut than Massachusetts.” The word FURTHER should be used to designate a greater extent, in addition to, or more. ”She would further her education by going back to school.” ”He wouldn’t discuss the subject further.” ”He had worked hard, and after an hour, he was further along in his studies than he thought he’d be.” “Furthermore, she would do it because she wanted to.”
If writing were easy, and if digging into the soul to create art in our own special way were easy, then everyone would be doing it, it would be nothing special at all, and no one would pay any attention.