Conclusion: The 0ngoing editor
One of the ideas implicit in this book is that writing is a gradual process
of transformation. Any text can grow from the most humble beginnings
into a complex and sophisticated work. In such a view, editing work is part
of creating it. This questions the idea that there is inevitably a specific stage
towards the end of the creative process which is dedicated to editing.
Although it has been commonplace for writers to talk about drafting
their work, writing is just as likely to be a continuous process of transfor-
mation, particularly in the era of word processing. Editing-as-you-go is
fundamental to the way we write on a computer, since procedures such as
cutting and pasting are available to help us shape and edit text as we write.
This means that the text tends to change continuously, rather than in
visible discrete stages. Most of the processes you have been learning about
in this book (such as the amplification and substitution in Chapter 2, or
narrative shaping in Chapter 5) are also editing techniques, because they
are ways of organising and structuring your material.
Having said that, writers will approach the creative process in a wide
range of ways, and the same writer may engage with it differently at dif-
ferent times. Sometimes you may find yourself writing freely and
copiously as the first stage, and then moving into editing mode as the
second; sometimes there will be no absolutely clear point at which editing
starts. The editing mentality requires an awareness of what language can
do which should be with you all the time, but which it may be appropri-
ate to apply with more discipline at some times rather than at others.
Although the ability to shape and cull your own work is very important,