I think most writers will answer the same. but:

1. Reading out what you've written loud quickly emphasises the awkward phraseology or cliches.

2. For some reason, proofing and editing on paper tends to pick up different things from proofing and editing on screen. Use both methods.

3. Before editing, write the brief precis that you'd use to describe the work to a publisher. That'll tell you what the story's essentially about and it'll help you to trim and expand.

4. In extreme cases, set yourself an exercise to trim the word count by 10% and see if you've damaged the story afterwards. Only put things back if you've wrecked something.

5. If there are very critical descriptive scenes - a fight or something intensely emotional for example - try writing those paragraphs out again from memory. Then see which version or blend of the two came out best.

6. Trust your instincts about what things break the rules but still feel right. It's not a classroom exercise, its a work of literature.




Nothing much I could spot. My attempt at a World War I Parodyverse story was "No Man's Land", archived here

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Thanks so much, Ian. I just got back from a trip to Busan (in South Korea, these days I work in Seoul), so I'm a bit haggard, but I'm going to read your Untold Tales below tomorrow. It's been a while. I think the last one I read was #140 or so. Anything I should catch up on?

The best recent jumping-on point is probably #333 (we're now up to #335) which starts the current story arc and pretty much introduces any important information from scratch. #334 #335

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(And yes, I do feel like a grade-A heel for being such a negligent poster these last few years, when you've helped me like this. But I'll try to make it up in the future.)

People have lives. I'm struggling myself to keep up these days, since I'm running my own business, being a single parent, and looking after a sick mother. I'm pleased you're still around and I hope you find you still enjoy this kind of interaction.