Wordy Wednesday - Power of the Red Pen

For those of you who may not know I got the crazy notion a few years back I wanted to write a novel.* Me and my crazy notions...

182 pages (approximately 93,000 words) later I have something that closely resembles a novel... imagine that! Now, it must be noted, the novel I speak of is not complete that will require--best guess--another 30,000 words.

The reason I mention this crazy notion is that earlier this week I decided it was time to see my work on paper. Working from a computer screen has it's advantages; speed being a key advantage (spellcheck a second, but we don't like to talk about that). Still, the computer offers many disadvantages, they key one I found being the lack of a red pen.

What do I mean?

There is something about a red pen that is empowering!! Making corrections-whether grammatical, layout, or content wise-is easier with a red pen. Slashing through a rogue word, drawing arrows (a favorite editing technique of mine), or inserting new thoughts all work better with a red pen. A stark contract from the white of the page and the black of the text, the red pen says "look at me, I've been changed!"Suddenly the page become a work of art in itself, the marks becoming a new element of the novel writing process.

While editing is rarely easy, I find solace in my red pen. The red pen gives me strength to cut that unnecessary sentence, clean up that fluff-filled paragraph, and consider alternatives in the margins. It even helps solidify dangling ideas, reword-for the better-confusing thoughts, and occasionally entertain me with the random doodle when my mind decides to wander (because my mind wanders...I'm not ashamed!)

Hopefully, in the future I will post bits of my novel here on Wordy Wednesdays. For now, I have another 177 pages to edit, and by my side (okay, in my hand, but that just doesn't sound as nice) the whole time will be my trusty red pen.

*Disclaimer: Truth be told, it occurred because the two main characters wouldn't shut up and quit arguing in my head. Could I have sufficiently shut them up, all would be right with the world...okay maybe not.