KISS

Keep It Simple, Stupid!

That phrase, according to Wikipedia, was a design principle used by the U.S. Navy in 1960.  It seems applicable also to book editing.

Wait a minute!  One of my previous blog posts was about book editing, and here is that same topic again.  Boring!

Maybe, a little.  But KISS is something that I need to keep in mind while editing my own writing.  Keep it simple.  I'm learning.

I'd also like to share a few simple quotes from other writers on the topic of editing.  These came from (where else?) the Internet.  (If it's on the Internet, it must be true.)  Here are the quotes:

“You should edit before and after editing.”
-- Dwayne Fry

“There is no great writing, only great rewriting.”
-- Justice Louis Brandeis

“It was a miracle to me, this transformation of my acorns into an oak.”
-- Betsy Lerner

“Only the writers can change or fix the past by going back to edit old works.”
-- Munia Kahn

“Remove the comma, replace the comma, remove the comma, replace the comma...”
-- R. D. Ronald

So, inspired by these wise writers, I must go back to the manuscript I'm drafting and replace (or is it remove?) that comma -- again.

Don

PS:  On the topic of "acorns into an oak", I do have a brief story.  Was recently in Michigan in an area that is packed with giant oak trees.  One night, a 30-mph wind came off Lake Michigan.  The acorns fell like hail.  The noise, as they pummeled the metal roof, was like machine gun fire.  Bam!Bam!Bam!Bam!Bam!  I don't know if any of them will become oaks, but the chipmunks love 'em.