The process of short form writing, from short stories and personal essays to blog posts and web content, is probably the most widely misunderstood writing process in the field today.

The shorter it is, the easier to write, right?

If its only 1000 words, what could an editor do for you that you couldn't do for yourself?

If you've ever been given a word count maximum, you probably know just how untrue this notion of short equals easy is. Portraying a thought, feeling, action, or information in as few words as you possibly can is one of the most difficult things a writer faces today. And with attention spans developing the way they are, getting real good at saying a lot in a short amount of time is becoming more and more important.

The link above is a downloadable file of the most recent editorial review I've done for this particular short story. The author's name has been removed for privacy.

I've worked with this author on this story three times: once during a school workshop; once during a summer writing workshop I organized that he participated in; and again, much later, as one of my first freelancing clients.

During a piece's first editorial run-through, its common to not really know what to ask for from an editor. At this stage in the work, the author just wanted eyes on it for general future direction.

The second time I read this piece, it had been cleaned up significantly. Small grammatical errors had been removed, slow parts had been sped up, parts that read too quickly had been fleshed out with concrete details. It was a much more engaging piece of writing than its original counterpart, but wasn't quite ready for publication.

The third time I took a look at this piece, I was so excited to see so many of my suggestions come into play. There were intense moments of panic, quiet moments of loss, gentle moments of kindness. It was really, really starting to look like a short story you could read in a book or a journal.

But it wasn't quite there. Even after all the work we'd done together, there was still more to do. And this story was only about 3000 words long.

The author's main concern in this third iteration was flow. Did one scene move to the next in a way that made sense? Kept the reader in the story? Were the parts that could be cut? Things that still needed to be added?

Even with the specific editorial direction the author gave, I still also made sure to include line editing, copy editing, format suggestions, and general writing advice geared toward concision and clarity.

This example was the first time I'd seen this piece. I'd known the author, who's name has been removed for privacy, for a few years. He'd been sitting on this short story since the fall of 2021 before he'd brought it to me. He told me he struggled with writing pieces that didn't have a lot of movement in them, stories that were more thoughtful and reflective than action packed and full of plot. When he sent it my way, he told me,

"Give me some of that minimalist magic of yours."

I'd like to think I did.

Blizzard of '93 required a lot more copy editing and proofreading, but I still made it a point to give developmental suggestions, notes on character consistency, and advice for overall style and flow. I hope one day I get to read it again.

An editorial eye focused on concision and clarity can help push your writing to be better than ever. Your blog posts, your novellas, your short stories, your essays, they all could benefit. And I know I can help.