Re-Visioning
Writers often stress over editing. I know I did. It’s often a time when I become aware of holes as well as changes needed to elevate my writing.
Then one year, at the Edmonds WOTS (Write On The Sound) conference, I heard a presenter suggest we stop thinking about revising a story and start thinking about re-visioning it. I immediately saw a huge difference in my attitude about editing. It became a challenge to look at the work as a whole, attempting to shine a light on what works and ramping up places where that light remained dim.
Maybe it’s the same thing, but I don’t believe so. Re-visioning makes me think of sunshine and warmth. I feel 1,000 percent happier as I edit because now I’m polishing my work rather then revising it. And, if this is a clever trick to help me through the edits, I’ve taken the bait. I’m tricked but along with that trick I feel as though I’m treated to a new way to look at an important element in the writing process.
I think it’s more than a clever trick. Revising can be no more than copyediting: correcting grammar, spelling, word choice, punctuation, consistency, and readability. But revisioning has to be more. It’s like a literary or developmental edit that challenges the writer to have a new vision of the piece, to see that it can be more than she originally intended.
Yes, this word “re-visioning” shifted my approach – thank you.
I like this shift. Thanks for posting.