11 Comments
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Jeffrey Gibbs's avatar

So many fantastic tips! I am loving this. And I love you used Sontag. I am reading In America as a study for historical fiction. Which reminds mw, thanks for answering my reading as writer question. The writing bold lines I have not really dared to say was what kicked my memoir into gear. I also have an exercise where I cut at least one word from every sentence, cut one sentence from every paragraph, and one paragraph from every two pages with the option of putting them back. To my surprise when I started this, I almost never put anything back and because of the relentlessness, if I did, I felt sure of my choice.

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Brianne Alcala's avatar

What a terrifically easy and powerful exercise. I love the reversible step that ends up freeing you to move forward. I'm going to try this. Thanks for sharing!

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Taylor Michael (she/her)'s avatar

These are really generative editing tips. I am working on an essay right now that's gone through a lot of revision and still has more rounds to go but each time I go back I feel like i'm trying to attack one thing and it often ends to both contraction and expansion depending on the section.

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Molly Bollier's avatar

Well, I plan to use this mighty list. A lot. Thank you!

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Lily James Olds's avatar

Love these tips and prompts. Thank you for the inspiration!

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Joanell Serra's avatar

A writer friend sent me this post and wow it’s quite helpful. I am in late stages with a memoir manuscript and I think I need to try the tip on moving only the parts I love to a new document. Brilliant.

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Meghan O'Rourke's avatar

Fantastic! I hope it helps. That one can be a real game-changer for me.

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Colby Day's avatar

Incredibly insightful, as usual!

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Meghan O'Rourke's avatar

Thank you! hope it helps.

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Jeffrey Gibbs's avatar

I cant rave enough about this post

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Karine Renard's avatar

Thanks sooo much for this post! I am working on a manuscript for some time now and was feeling stuck so I used the radical shortening of your tip! I cut a lot but now I have more clarity:-)

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