April 5, 2012

embracing my inner Ernest today


"E"
I have to admit I did a good bit of procrastinating on picking a topic for this post; not to mention writing it.  I knew I should have done more letters in advance but truth be told I didn't!

And the reason?  My older son along with the granddaughters are visiting for Easter from Atlanta so I've been busy busy today doing things like shopping and making beds, assigning bedrooms and making sure little girls to eat their mashed potatoes! You know, very important Grandma stuff!

I did however decide on an "E" topic last night at about 10:00 p.m sort of in desperation but in all practicality it's very relevant to all of our lives as bloggers and writers. The word that I chose is edit.

As a blogger I some times wonder if I spent more time writing my posts or more time editing my posts. I actually prefer to write in advance. Then I'll sort of dip into my post later fixing language and punctuation or the general flow of what I'm writing. I tend to do this over the course of a day or a couple of days depending; that is until it's what I want or have hit a deadline. I also spend quite a bit of time on layout, do you? I'll set up my text with my pictures, fonts and captions so their just so. Editing is quite an important tool for this blogger.

On a personal note I just want to say; thank goodness for spell checker or this blogger wouldn't publish a thing! I am the worst speller in the whole wide world and I sincerely doubt you'd understand a single thing I write without it!

How much editing do you do in your writing? A lot? None?

The first draft of anything is shit. ~ Ernest Hemingway

21 comments:

  1. have fun with you family!
    The Ernest Hemingway quote, which i never saw before was my instant favorite!

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  2. In red faced shame, I admit I don't edit my blog posts thoroughly before I publish. I often check back, find mistakes and edit after the fact. Sad, I know.

    With my writing, it's very different. I edit like crazy, and really have to stop myself from doing it until a book is finished. Otherwise, it will never get written. Revision is truly my favorite part of the writing process, for all the headaches it brings.

    I hope you and your family have fun.

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    1. Thanks Stephanie, we will. Love the distinction that you make between your writing for your book and the blog; very interesting to me!

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  3. I actually edit better than I write. Some people say editing is a left-brain activity, but I'm not so sure. My best creative, right-brain stuff comes during editing. As for my blog, I spend lots of time editing and tweaking the layout before I post. TOO much time!

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  4. Have a great visit with your family! I like Stephanie will often publish my posts, then read them later and fix any problems. I am science minded, so writing is not my best and I am terrible with grammar. My blog is what it is though and I enjoy it very much.

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  5. It depends. There are times that the post seems to just flow, and when I press "publish" I don't feel like I even have to look back, however there are times where I feel like I'm writing through mud. EVERY.WORD.A.STRUGGLE!
    Happy Easter my friend!

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    1. You write beautifully Jackie, especially about the girls, the beach and the Phillies and that's hard for this Yankee fan to say the day after opening day, lol!
      Blessings to you and yours as well this Easter!

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  6. Well, the first daft is always used to just get down what I want to say and then I go back and do all the editing...so I agree with Ernest Hemmingway's quote.
    Enjoy your family!

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  7. You should see my editing log on my dashboard. I bet on an average I edit my blog post 8+ times. I always seem to come back and find something I don't like o that sounds better another way.

    I usually don't bother starting the editing until I have a finished product to work with though.

    Enjoy your family, Resurrection Weekend, and the rest of the challenge!

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    1. I do something along those lines, might not finish but edit anyway.
      Enjoy your Easter as well.

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  8. Editing is so important. I wish I had a better eye. I find a make changes three or four times after the post has been posted. Good choice!

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  9. Ernest was right on!!!

    If I look back at original drafts, of almost anything, and then look at my final, it's amazing the difference in the two!

    Hope you enjoy your family over the Easter break ;o)

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    1. I was so excited when i stumbled upon that quote!
      Have a lovely Easter as well Kathleen.

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  10. You are totally right, editing is a key piece in writing. I wish my kids were better at it, but finding your own mistake is always super hard.
    Have a great time being a grandma!

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    1. My kids never really learned it until college, then you HAVE to!
      Grandma's gonna have a fun Easter, hope you and yours do too!

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  11. I edit sometimes. I always edit spelling, etc...but some pieces I do lots of drafts of (and low and behold, they turn out better! LOL). Great post.

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  12. Ernest=E=edit...it works on so many levels!!

    I love Ernest, by the way!

    I wish I had more time to edit. Most of the time, it's all I can do get the post up. I am writing as I go. I feel pressure, though, because I am an English major, a former English teacher..the expectations are almost too much..haha

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  13. I'm in a similar situation as you, with my kids and grandkids visiting. I set up my posts for this period ahead of time so I'm in pretty good shape. I try not to spend an excessive amount of time on my posts most of the time, but I do try to make sure they are correct and they look good.


    Lee
    An A to Z Co-Host
    Tossing It Out

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  14. I think it depends on the day and my mood. When I edit it's usually to shorten my posts, I tend to babble on and on. I barely have time to write so I don't spend too much time on editing. Last weekend I got all my posts done and scheduled through yesterday's post. I hope to do the same for the upcoming week but feeling kind of stuck at the moment. I hope you have a wonderful weekend! :)

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  15. I actually write out in a journal what I want to say and then type her up on the computer in microsoft.
    I'm a nurse so I never took any english classes other than what we had to in high school. So my grammar is probably atrocious. So is my spelling.
    But I can fix a boo boo like it's nobody's business.
    So to answer your question, yes, I edit. A. LOT>

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  16. Jen if I am writing on paper it is really terrible. I have come to really rely on spell check. I was writing something yesterday. Knowing it was wrong as I wrote it, I spelled sentence as sentense. Sometimes on my blog a word is so wrong spellcheck doesn't know what I'm trying to spell. It has actually happened that I just chose another word.

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