Hey there, Bec here,
A few weeks ago, I asked which of the six experiments from series one of our new podcast This Might Work you’d most like to try yourself. Oliver Burkeman’s starting afresh approach came top of the poll.
This is an editing tip, where you print out a section of your draft, and type the whole thing back in from the paper. Oliver called ‘massively eccentric’ but also it’s just admin.
You might remember his mic drop moment where he said he deleted the original copy! Listen to episode one of This Might Work, Starting Afresh with Oliver Burkeman or read the transcript.
Here’s the plan: on Monday the 17th of August we gather on Zoom for a kick-off session, where I outline the tip and share a few prompts to help you prep.
I’ll keep it light and allow time for questions and discussion. The formal part will only take half an hour - if you are all ready to go, you can use the remaining half hour to get started. Then, on Friday the 21st of August we gather again to review how it went and what you want to do next.
Sign up for the session and I’ll send a reminder and follow up email with the recording and prompts.
In This Might Work we put writing advice to the test by testing different approaches with real writers working on real projects.
Oliver Burkeman kicked off the series with a brilliant editing tip that he called ‘starting afresh’. Take a section of your writing you’re not happy with yet - no more than a thousand words. Print it. Then retype it from the printout, without copying and pasting, and without opening the original.
What makes it work is how it reframes your thinking. As Oliver put it, typing it back in becomes ‘just admin’. He said: ‘It doesn’t tax the soul in some terrible pretentious writer way’. You get the feeling of a blank page without the terror of one, because the whole thing is sitting there on paper next to you.
Literacy educator Elizabeth Morphis tried it on the introduction to her non-fiction book, on a plane, a hotel roof in Athens at 3 a.m., and a flight home. She found it uncomfortable. She also finished the introduction, and thought the new version was better.
My writer friend Wyl Menmuir tried it too. He sent me this message after giving it a go.
“It so worked btw. I put my notes to one side and started from scratch and wrote something much better. About 3,000 words of it too. That might be one of my most productive writing days ever.”
- Wyl Menmuir
Let’s try this together! I’ve got a sample chapter to edit and this community experiment will give me the accountability to get it done.
I’d love to see you there and hear how you get on. Any questions, let me know.
Cheers, Bec
P.S. If you liked this article please consider supporting us by subscribing or upgrading to a paid membership. When you do, you can join our 7-Day Writing Sprints and goal setting webinars across the year.
Alternatively, we’d be grateful for any likes, shares or comments you have.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.