Looking at Drafts from Other Viewpoints

Hello again. I hope you’re doing well.

This Saturday I took a slightly different walking route from usual, in order to mail a letter on the way. The new route included walking part of a path in the opposite direction from usual.

Walking in this other direction, I noticed items that I had not noticed before. I noticed a sign asking people walking dogs to clean up after them. I noticed a container hanging from a tree. I noticed the chairs in front of a house near the path.

This experience reminded me of some advice in the book Ideas into Words, by Elise Hancock. The advice: “Before you start refining, do whatever will freshen your view of the manuscript. At a minimum, take a break and print out the manuscript.”

Hancock suggests printing out one’s draft in a narrower-than-usual column (about 40 to 60 English-language characters per line). Doing so provides a fresh view of the manuscript. It also provides large margins for editing.

An alternative (for example, if you lack a printer or if paper is expensive) is just to change the margins online and view the manuscript there. You can also change the typeface or change the color of the type. (Of course, before submitting the manuscript, change it back to the required format.)

Changing the appearance of your manuscript can help you to notice items to revise. Whether taking a walk or editing your writing, consider taking a different perspective in order to notice different things!

Until the next post—

Barbara