Oh So Clear

Need a great editing tool? One that helps you find all the mistakes? One that is brutally honest? Then consider your ex! They’ve always been great at pointing out every single flaw of yours.

Oh, I see… You’re looking for a tool that doesn’t start arguments and constantly screams “You always do this!” One that doesn’t end its feedback with “And this is why my mother never liked you!”

Fair enough.

Then how about a lie detector? Hook yourself up while reading your own work aloud. If the needle jumps when you say “this is a beautiful sentence,” you know it needs fixing.

No?

Okay. I admit those are silly ideas. But you know what isn’t silly? A calendar! Yes. A plain, old, humble, sometimes kitten-themed, square-grid calendar. And, seriously, it may just be the most powerful editing tool you’ve never seriously used.

A calendar gives you fresh eyes

What does everyone say you need to do proper editing? A pair of fresh socks? No! A pair of fresh eyes!

And, sure, it’s easy enough to find some if you dumpster dive behind your local morgue. But you know what? A calendar gives you the same without the felony charges and having to burn your clothes afterwards.

Because here is what a calendar does. It gives you the power of reading your own words in the same way a stranger would — with a frown and a pang of secondhand embarrassment. All you have to do is mark “hands off until [date]” and then stick to it.

After all, nothing makes typos, inconsistencies, and plot holes leap off the page like waiting long enough to forget what you actually wrote. It’s like staring at a Magic Eye poster for hours and seeing nothing — then coming back a week later and instantly spotting the 3D dolphin flipping you off.

And it’s really that easy. When you return to your writing after some strategic amnesia, you’ll edit more effectively and more ruthlessly. Killing your darlings becomes almost trivial when you’ve half-forgotten about them — just like pulling the plug on life support hurts a whole…