How can you edit a story to make it more effective?

The best way to edit your story is to sleep on it. Don't make the mistake of editing it soon after writing. If you have time, wait for a day. You will be surprised at how your mind works. It will invariably help you strengthen sentences, improve transitions, add description, and even suggest new ideas that had not occurred to you earlier. Remember, editing is not about spotting spelling, grammatical or factual errors and fixing them. That is the minimum requirement, the basics. Good editing is about improving copy - making it more readable. This can only happen when you look at your writing with a fresh mind. Try it, and see the difference.

Un conseil qu'un éditeur m'a donné et que je ne sais pas toujours mettre en application : "Suggérez plut?t que détaillez". Il vaut souvent mieux laisser le lecteur libre de se faire sa propre représentation mentale. Faites des ellipses. Il n'est pas utile de tout dire. Profitez aussi de la puissance de l'image, de la comparaison, de la métaphore. Elle agit efficacement sur notre imaginaire. Si vous écrivez un roman, faites en sorte que vos personnages aient de l'épaisseur, une pensée complexe, que chacun de leur acte soit guidé par leur psychologie propre.

Además de leer tu texto en voz alta, te sugiero que utilices la función de lectura del procesador de texto, ya sea en Word u otro programa similar, así como en el correo electrónico. Esta práctica no solo te proporcionará una comprensión más clara de la cadencia de cualquier texto, sino que, en mi experiencia, también es la herramienta más efectiva para identificar errores que, en ocasiones, podrían pasar desapercibidos de otra manera.

Very true indeed. I had the opportunity to work under Saxena Ji as Research Editor in The New Indian Express Chennai some years ago! I learned the nuances of editing from him, which has helped me throughout my writing career, be it journalism or literally translation ??

Trim unnecessary details, ensure a clear and engaging opening, tighten dialogue for relevance, enhance pacing, eliminate redundancy, check for consistency, and seek feedback from others to refine and improve the overall impact of the story.

When I edit my first draft I always have a word limit in my mind. As a writer, you must know how to write effectively without stretching your concept. ? Mark and Cut off all the lines from your piece that breaks the flow. ? If you can write something in 9 words why stretch it to 20 words? ? Cut short long paragraphs/sentences into short. ? See if you don't use filler words. 'I personally do this' ? 'I do this' ?? ? Read and wipe out some sentences will it distort the core message of the content?

??Sometimes, you need the fluff. It all depends on the purpose of your story. If you want to build suspense or play on your reader's imagination, you may need to be more descriptive and add more sentences.

I agree. Shorter sentences with powerful words. Less adverbs as suggested by Stephen King. On the other hand there are readers who love wording and writer that trive in describing and combining many words into outstanding paragpaphs.

??One of the best advices I got to achieve "show, don't tell" is to tap on your five senses. Going in a situation, observe which senses will be affected and write a description based on that.

To truly captivate readers, a story's narration must adapt to its audience. Narration of a simple story may have wide variation as per the audiance group. Before editing a story to make it more effective, you must have clarity about its audience and target group. Worldview of readers. You must have a precise understanding of the Theory of Mind of the readers. Word selection, sentence formation, narration style etc. everthing depends on the morale of the story and for which audience group it is meant. Understanding the target audience's expectations is key. Consider narrating the story to someone from that group and incorporating their feedback to ensure your word choice, sentence structure, and narration style resonate powerfully.