If you’ve ever been a student in any of my classes, you know I firmly believe in the importance of editing and proofreading. The best college papers come out of this process. And not only that–go into any bookstore and I promise you that the books you see on the shelves have been heavily, heavily edited before earning their counter space!

While I write a first draft of a manuscript, I resist the temptation to edit. I lovingly craft each image that comes to me.

But when it comes to editing, as writers, we need to be merciless with our writing. We need to be able to say, “Even though I wrote all of these sentences, some (even some of my favorites) need to be cut for the betterment of the whole.”

Last weekend, my wife read through the first quarter of my novel, and her criticism mainly targeted my first chapter. At the time, it was difficult for me to take. I had invested so much time into it! But (hours later) after the initial shock wore off, I was able to take her feedback constructively, and I’ve cut lots of words and sentences that improve the speed and pacing of the story. Did I cut lines that I loved? Yes. Was it tough for me? Yes. However, if we really care to improve a piece of writing, editing and proofreading may just be what our stories need to get over the hump.

One of my past writing coaches used to talk about this stage as “killing babies.” The sharp language and imagery that phrase provokes have stayed with me through the years. What it comes down to is essentially this: We love everything we write because we give birth to it. We create it. But the best writers can temporarily brush these sentiments aside to cut the words and sentences that actually hurt our stories, essentially killing our babies. Man, that sounds awful… (Please don’t take this literally!)

A few years ago, one of my students sent me an email in which she rejoiced over strengthening her paper through the process of “killing babies.” She wrote something like, “Mr. S! I spent all weekend killing babies!” It took me a while to realize that she was talking about editing! And after reading her email, I thought: What have I done?! That sounds horrible! (She did turn in an A paper, though.)

To sum it all up: Always write your heart out. But when needed, make sure you edit and proofread, too. It is an essential stage of the writing process.

Photo credit: javier.:.vázquez / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA