Many critique groups share the “peer edit” problem you cite above. They discuss grammar, spelling, punctuation and sometimes whether or not the right word is used, but don’t touch structural/organizational/content problems.

I’m a proof editor, and tend to latch onto the same things in my editing. I do suggest some changes in arrangement or whether something should be included in the work, etc., but hesitate to move things around or tell the person the first 50 pages should be discarded/worked in elsewhere, or anything like that.

Since most of my work comes from members of these critique groups, they really don’t seem to want to hear that some of what they’ve written is just an information dump (my own work has shown some of that, too), or has nothing to do with the rest of the story.

Oooo, always EMBRACE ambiguity, Kristina. Think about how many chances it gives you to change your mind!

Pamela, don’t be too hard on yourself. Just concentrate on writing a crappy first draft. Glad to hear you enjoy my blog.

Glad to help, KSW. Thanks for writing.

Hi Dan, I think you need to divorce yourself from the very idea of “wasted effort.” If you LEARN something, the effort is never wasted! I applaud your idea of writing by hand and then editing as you type — that’s very creative! — but it does sound like a lot of work. Instead, could you split yourself into multiple personalities? There would be the writing you (not CARING about the finished product – all you need is a crappy first draft), the editing you (working on improving your writing and making it as fine as possible) and the marketing you (responsible for finding a home or publication place for your writing.) These are three separate jobs and the nature of the work is entirely different for each…

Thanks for your kind words, Jen!

I tried to get around this by writing a ‘draft’ by hand and then going back and typing the ‘draft’ and then edit as a I go. It makes it much more real and tangible, but never easy.

Keep up the great work.

Dan Naden