{"id":166431,"date":"2025-05-30T10:11:47","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T09:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/townhouse\/?p=166431"},"modified":"2025-05-30T10:11:47","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T09:11:47","slug":"how-i-actually-edit-iv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-i-actually-edit-iv\/","title":{"rendered":"How I actually edit (IV)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>University creative writing courses absolutely have their place. Plenty of people get a huge amount out of them. If that\u2019s you, I\u2019m genuinely pleased. Writing should be joyful, and if a university course lit that fire for you, brilliant.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But they\u2019re not for everyone \u2014 and they\u2019re not for me.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s why I\u2019ve always struggled with the university model (with all due respect to the exceptions out there):&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>They often overlook genre fiction, which is where the vast majority of readers (and many writers) live&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>They\u2019re often run by people with slender commercial track records&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>They don\u2019t tend to focus on the business side of writing \u2014 things like agents, submission, and marketing&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Self-publishing is often ignored entirely&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It\u2019s rare to get feedback on an entire manuscript, start to finish&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>They don\u2019t properly grapple with plot (because that\u2019s not something you can do by workshopping a couple of chapters)&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The focus leans more toward earning a degree than getting a damn book published&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, none of that makes university courses bad \u2014 it just means they have different goals. I care far more about getting a book published than I do about getting a degree. Your preferences may vary and it\u2019s perfectly OK if they do.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the reason I raise this is the workshopping phenomenon. Here\u2019s how it works:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A university gathers together a bunch of people who care a lot about words and writing. They set a challenge: you\u2019re going to write the kind of book that might get published by a cool literary imprint somewhere. Then, they ask Anna to read out 1\u2013 2,000 words of her draft novel, so that Brian and Ciara and Dan and Ezzie and the rest of them can offer their thoughts. This whole process is overseen by an Author of a couple of works, often not even full novels, (whom two of the students secretly fancy) and it\u2019s important to all of the students that they have the approbation of the Author of the two SLNs and so Brian and Ciara and all the rest of them get stuck in and try to show off how cool and literary they are as they give Anna her feedback.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And look: there are worse things in the world. In fact, what I\u2019ve just described is among life\u2019s better things and loads of people who go through one of these courses will enjoy one of the most rewarding years of their life. So good. If that\u2019s your thing, then go for it. (Though, uh, read the PSes below before you sign up for anything.)&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My reason for telling you all this? Because of the phenomenon that is the Universal Workshop Voice. It\u2019s a thing. I\u2019ve given classes in the past where someone reads me a snatch of their work and I can identify \u2013 immediately and accurately \u2013 that this has been through the university-style workshopping process.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A paragraph might start out like this:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>A fly, a fat one, landed on his forearm. Ulf stared at it for a moment, then swatted it with his free hand, killing it. Leaving a fat purple stain, and nothing else.<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\u2019t know if that paragraph has any merit. I just made it up now for the purpose of this email. Whether it would ever find a place in one of my books, I don\u2019t know. Probably not. But if you ran that paragraph past Anna and Brian and the gang, it would turn into something like this:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>A fly, fat and freighted with the alien armaments of its kind, landed on his forearm. The blow, when it arrived, shocked even Ulf with its ferocity, a blow born of some dark ancestral killing field, a rapid-fire conversation between neurons that left Ulf himself a mere bystander. Where once there had been insect there was now only pulp, grapey and softly dripping.<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I don\u2019t even hate that. I mean: I can\u2019t quite imagine wanting to read that book, but maybe someone would.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Really, my concern here is that Anna\u2019s piece, Brian\u2019s, Ciara\u2019s, Dan\u2019s and Ezzie\u2019s are all sounding pretty damn similar \u2013 and they\u2019re sounding similar because the workshopping process exerts the same basic gravity on them all.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And from my personal editing process, that\u2019s not what I want at all.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I want to sound like me. I uncover what my tastes are by just going at my manuscript, again and again, sentence by sentence, page by page. I don\u2019t know if that produces the best book. It probably doesn&#8217;t. I mean: if Hilary Mantel or Sally Rooney or Gillian Flynn were to edit one of my first draft manuscripts, presumably it would start to take on their particular genius-level shine.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But sod em. I don\u2019t care. This is my book not theirs, and I don\u2019t want their tastes interfering \u2013 and I definitely don\u2019t want the Author of two barely-novels to exert any weight at all. And Ezzie? Nice girl and all that, but she can shove off. I don\u2019t want her tastes (or Anna-Brian-Ciara-Dan\u2019s) anywhere near my word-choices.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I suppose I could justify my attitude in commercial terms \u2013 agents and editors prioritise authors with a distinctive voice. Readers probably do too, if only in the sense that those books wind up more memorable.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But that\u2019s kind of fake. My motive isn\u2019t really commercial; it\u2019s just my personal version of bolshiness. I don\u2019t want to write like Ezzie. I want to write like me.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the way I do it? Editing and editing and editing and editing. And yes, using my knowledge of craft to shape my decisions. But mostly working with my own taste. What sounds like me? What do I think is funny? What atmosphere feels right for this scene? Is this sentence better as 10 words or 8? Or lose it completely?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And flies freighted with alien armaments? Yes gods. Spare me. I\u2019m pleased the damn thing got splattered.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Til soon,&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Harry&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>FEEDBACK FRIDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This week, it\u2019s&nbsp;<a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhp372.keap-link011.com%2Fv2%2Fclick%2Fca5f1ab9551cd13b2cfbc616fb3b8513%2FeJyNkM0KwjAQhN9lz9Voi632JiJSqh5EzxLaVaNtEjZbRaTvbvzBk4LnmfmGmRswaqk5KyGFg42SEAIgLJRVqHliNMviKUbDcDTqBVApfZqRaSykt2_Zj_4M9aM4jAPgq0XvWa_GkzxbzrbzbJl7r5XkS_4BJYM46Ycf0HQxzubQtj_JWCuenj3cQcrU4GNTqfwu3lD1KGG2LhXiiKSKg7mQYiTXLUwtKnTOaCGdU3tde0RnZxrqDITHSmtRl-9Xcry-4O0dhhNqZA%3D%3D&amp;data=05%7C02%7Ct.lewis%40jerichowriters.com%7C0c8c259312a644f584b808dd9f599540%7C2612c0bcfef84961bbd14371b93d2b88%7C1%7C0%7C638841929305606149%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=Tb541NMpyPTuRdAiAo6MDoA978QtkXKHcWUqUldrjVE%3D&amp;reserved=0\"><strong>Assignment Four<\/strong><\/a><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>from Debi Alper&#8217;s&nbsp;<strong><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhp372.keap-link011.com%2Fv2%2Fclick%2Fd46916d17805e2e814a27181f1c1dbf4%2FeJyNkEtPwkAUhf_LLFx1rJRIoQkxhCA2RRaKazKZXuFq55GZOzUN4b87rYSVJu7u45zvzpkTI9BCU1mzgh3tOM9YwhxItAialkaTkMNyPM1ms7uENag_184Ey4rTb97rfjCNxpNsmjDqLETN7mWxrMrter8pt1XUWuHikf-A8vtJPsquoNXzotyw8_lPMiikVRvhnhXkAvSZaoy56M01_REi64s0_QCH8mi-HBI4fyuNSqUDQdgC74eoD1ya4Dz4FDU5UwdJaDQnwz007zxSB1EXRVybFhreYg3m4kofAqm9j7WEefl603cqeoKagxLYDAMplBV40POnx1V8u7AWdH35-gq6nwTnb8aakZY%3D&amp;data=05%7C02%7Ct.lewis%40jerichowriters.com%7C0c8c259312a644f584b808dd9f599540%7C2612c0bcfef84961bbd14371b93d2b88%7C1%7C0%7C638841929305620849%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=kfybfm5clt3n%2FsU7KgbtJAci244fVb4xQP1QRkf5Fio%3D&amp;reserved=0\">Introduction to Self-Editing<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;course. (It&#8217;s FREE to Premium Members! And if you\u2019re not a Premium Member, you know what to do: join us&nbsp;<strong><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhp372.keap-link011.com%2Fv2%2Fclick%2F74a16a125cf9b9bcbdc025f4f7dd05ed%2FeJyNkE9rwkAQxb_LHjxZUxNqaiAUkdQusR5se5ZlM9Sx2T_szraI5Lt3E8WThR5n5r3f482JEWihiTesYHub5SkbMwcSLYKmpdEk5HDMHtP5_H7MWtRfK2eCZcXplvd6H0zTbJZFEx0tRM37drGs-Wa1W_NNHbVWuBjyH1D-MMun6RVUvS74mnXdn2RQSNV3hHtWkAvQd2ow9qIP1_YhRNYXSXIAh3JvfhwSOD-RRiUHg_ou-OQpkNp5E5yEkr-N-klFRlAlKIHtsJBCWYGfunx5rmKqsBZ0c3laDcdzdvcLJxN2Bw%3D%3D&amp;data=05%7C02%7Ct.lewis%40jerichowriters.com%7C0c8c259312a644f584b808dd9f599540%7C2612c0bcfef84961bbd14371b93d2b88%7C1%7C0%7C638841929305634905%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=ZhD6usEc24dOxjf133k9F4YJDHX1VkhupYU%2FpXmiYrw%3D&amp;reserved=0\">here<\/a><\/strong>,<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>or buy the course as a one-off for \u00a399&nbsp;<strong><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhp372.keap-link011.com%2Fv2%2Fclick%2F9200c7dda44d9557c0ae0446883790b4%2FeJyNkMtOwzAQRf_FC1Y1oYloaKQIVVUoUUoXPNaV5QztQPyQPQmKqvw7TqhgAxK7edx7xtcnRqCFprJmGTvaJI3ZjDmQaBE0rY0mIadlchMvl1cz1qB-3zjTWpadfvN-7yfTPFkk8YxRbyFonh9X66rcbfbbclcFrRUuHPkPKL1epPMfUPGwKrdsGP4kg0IqugD3LCPXwpipxpCLXlwzHiGyPouiN3Aoj-bDIYHzl9KoSDoQhB3wcYj6wKVpnQcfoSZn6lYSGs3JcA_NKw_USdQHEdemg4Z3WIM5u6LbltTeh1pCXj5djJ0KnlbloAQ200AKZQUedH5_V4S3C2tB1-evr6D_SjB8AsA4kZE%3D&amp;data=05%7C02%7Ct.lewis%40jerichowriters.com%7C0c8c259312a644f584b808dd9f599540%7C2612c0bcfef84961bbd14371b93d2b88%7C1%7C0%7C638841929305648462%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=SacSYPkdk5qhslHIPloHJLC8jbAeTts9%2FC%2BSCcNpnV4%3D&amp;reserved=0\">here<\/a><\/strong>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, Debi wants you to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Find a short paragraph from your novel and experiment with different POV\u2019s. If you\u2019re working with multiple characters, ensure each voice is clearly different. Post in the\u00a0<strong><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhp372.keap-link011.com%2Fv2%2Fclick%2Fd3daa41609b059af620d849ddf04059f%2FeJyNkEFvwjAMhf9Lzs0y2o2O3hBCqCrjMG3nqUpdGtbaUeKAKtT_vgATp03ayZKf_b1nnwUD1shlIwrR2SxPRSIcaGMNIK8IudZXMXtJF4vHRPQGvzaOghXF-bfdu35dmmXz7CkRPFqIM-9vy1VV7jaf23JXxVlbu2jyH1D-PM9n6R20fl2WWzFNf5JhMLw-RrgXBbsAl5saE-_iD9dfTJitL5Q6gDO6o5MzDM4_aBoU0wk7Ch5USy4M_laUQXbUBM2GUDJJD30rI5MN7uVIwUmkI_Sq9t7scYjWso1dFcPU1gI2P7-sYLxFmr4BmumAEg%3D%3D&amp;data=05%7C02%7Ct.lewis%40jerichowriters.com%7C0c8c259312a644f584b808dd9f599540%7C2612c0bcfef84961bbd14371b93d2b88%7C1%7C0%7C638841929305662416%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=Zh7T%2BxbuUxYybiShOpCskybCNMJgIYstsmYFMAZ2QO8%3D&amp;reserved=0\">forum<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(remember to log in first) and share which POV you\u2019ve decided on and why. See if others agree with you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>University creative writing courses absolutely have their place. Plenty of people get a huge amount out of them. If that\u2019s you, I\u2019m genuinely pleased. Writing should be joyful, and if a university course lit that fire for you, brilliant.&nbsp; But they\u2019re not for everyone \u2014 and they\u2019re not for me.&nbsp; Here\u2019s why I\u2019ve always struggled<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":98318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29292],"tags":[29298,29213,286],"class_list":["post-166431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-harrys-friday-email","tag-self-editing","tag-harry-friday-email","tag-editing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Jericho Writers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-i-actually-edit-iv\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How I actually edit (IV) &#8211; Jericho Writers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"University creative writing courses absolutely have their place. Plenty of people get a huge amount out of them. If that\u2019s you, I\u2019m genuinely pleased. Writing should be joyful, and if a university course lit that fire for you, brilliant.&nbsp; But they\u2019re not for everyone \u2014 and they\u2019re not for me.&nbsp; Here\u2019s why I\u2019ve always struggled\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-i-actually-edit-iv\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jericho Writers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jerichowriters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-30T09:11:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Harry Bingham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@JerichoWriters\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@JerichoWriters\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Harry Bingham\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-i-actually-edit-iv\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-i-actually-edit-iv\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Harry Bingham\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34f531ec178a2b069ca3debe26c60e5a\"},\"headline\":\"How I actually edit (IV)\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-30T09:11:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-i-actually-edit-iv\/\"},\"wordCount\":1166,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-i-actually-edit-iv\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Harry-Feedback-Fridays-Forum-Townhouse-Image-Header-7.png\",\"keywords\":[\"self-editing\",\"Harry Friday Email\",\"editing\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Harry\u2019s Friday email\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-i-actually-edit-iv\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-i-actually-edit-iv\/\",\"name\":\"How I actually edit (IV) &#8211; 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