The Sparkling Edit: An Insecure Post

Welcome to First Wednesday and the Insecure Writer's Support Group!





So I finished a round of edits on Friday. That was good. I'd actually mostly finished a week earlier but had several places marked for expanding, so Friday is when I finished “filling out” those parts. (Yay me!) But with all the books I've read recently, I've felt like I want to now do a round where not just the STORY is what I want, but the words are. I am calling it the sparkling edit.



I am delusional. A friend asked me if I planned to throw glitter at it. It might come to that.



I know I don't write super descriptively, and I've always preferred simple language because while it might not be beautiful, at least it never gets in the way of the story. The language itself can be invisible as the story soaks in. But I'm starting to think it's not enough. I need a bit more “pull the reader in” stuff and some of that just has to be descriptive language. But well done descriptive... evocative and visual, not just describing... Emotions, too... I can't just tell what they are, I need to infuse how it feels.





It doesn't feel natural and it's hard. And I may just abandon it and go back to the last draft. Even in my first two pages trying to think about writing this way has me totally questioning what I have there. I feel like I need to completely rearrange everything. So I am feeling VERY insecure at the moment, but I suppose if we don't try new stuff, hard stuff, stuff that makes us uncomfortable, that we never grow...





Have you conquered any new writing challenges lately?



Don't forget to go visit some other insecure writers!