Editing your Story - Workshop 3
Four storytelling tips
Remember! The most crucial part of this challenge is making your story interesting and understandable to someone else
1. Understanding your story’s value
To make sure you’re telling the right story in the most powerful way, ask:
- What is your relationship to the story?
- Why have you chosen to write the story?
- What builds your authority as a writer? Do you have personal experience in this field? Have you found a new angle? Can you give a fresh perspective, e.g. from your viewpoint as a young person? The reason this story is interesting to you might also make it interesting to someone else.
2. Show, don’t tell
Instead of cold, factual exposition, attempt to convey your characters and stories via actions, thoughts, words and sensory detail. E.g. “Don’t tell me the moon is shining. Show me the glint of light on broken glass.”
EXERCISE: (from this story)
What does this first stanza show you (rather than tell you) about the character? How is she feeling?
The key slots in the lock as she heaves
open her front door – it feels heavier
than before.
The only noise she meets is the slow ticking of the clock –
tick, tick, tick –
as it mimics her thudding heart.
She is alone – and glad of it.
What does this last stanza show you (rather than tell you) about the character?
The sun shines through her windows.
Summer is coming.
She gets up and leaves the bed behind.
She feels the gentle heat on her skin and the breeze
in her hair. She can feel again.
3. Go deeper (not broader)
You have only 1,500 words in which to tell a short story. Instead of trying to give an overview of a large story, narrow your focus so that you explore just one scene, one person, one interaction, or one place in detail.
4. Plan your structure
One of the joys of this programme is that you can break free of conventional writing frameworks and try something new. We want you to be brave and daring. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t plan your story and have a sense of its structure. This will allow you to control the story and keep command.
- How will you lead your reader from beginning to end? Which steps must you take?
- Consider each paragraph independently. What is its purpose?
Final submission
Please email your final pieces to
WritingWrongs.Law@warwick.ac.uk before the deadline at 8pm on Sunday 30 March.
Your story should be 1,000 to 1,500 words on any rights-related subject you like in a style that you choose. The story must be related to rights and justice as you understand them.
Finding your story (workshop 1) resources
Building your story (online workshop) resources
Editing your story - on this page!
Reliable sources of information
Celebration event
Let us know if you are coming to the Celebration Event on Wednesday 30 April 6-7.30pm on campus, and if you would like to bring any guests!
We will share highlights from the programme, hear from our tutors and a special guest speaker who can tell you more about becoming a professional writer and about writing to make a positive change in the world.
We will be announcing the winner of the week-long paid internship at Lacuna Magazine in summer 2024, presenting certificates for all those who completed the programme, as well as giving individual feedback for all the final pieces.
Family, friends and teachers are all welcome to attend.
A guide to editing
Common mistakes:
- Buried intros (is the most interesting/intriguing part of your story so far down that your reader won’t get to it?)
- The science experiment approach (“in this story I will…”, “In conclusion/to summarise”)
- Unnecessary self-reference (do you need to be in the story? If not, take yourself out)
- Jumbled tenses (are you slipping from present to past tense and back again?)
- Long, convoluted sentences (say it simply)
- Over-elaborate language (don’t be obscure)
- Exaggeration or over-emphasis (have confidence that your story is strong enough)
- Opinions and demands (show the reader what needs to change, don’t tell them)
- Over-writing
Fact or fiction?
Sometimes the lines between the two can be blurred. But take care. Does your reader know what is fact and what is fiction? Can they trust what you are telling them? Are you telling someone else’s real-life story? If so, do you have the right or permission to do that? Think about how you frame the story and what information you are giving to your reader.
Writing with sensitivity and respect
The words you choose can be political. Are there any experts or organisations who you can turn to for advice? Many specialist organisations have guidance for journalists writing about their field of work so that the right terminology is used. Search for a advice relating to your subject. And remember, we have a list of reliable sources here.
Beware: adjectives, adverbs, cliches, (and for non-fiction writers) hyperbole and tautology
- A stronger verb could make your adverb redundant. E.g. Instead of “she said, angrily,” try “she snapped.”
- Don’t rely on cliches (tired, overused phrases), e.g. “adrenaline pumped through our veins,” “he was cool as a cucumber,” “they were fighting an uphill battle.” Instead, think up a more original and imaginative phrase.
- Newer non-fiction writers often fall prey to hyperbole and exaggeration, e.g. “My first step onto sand was pure bliss,” or “these politicians are cruelly murdering our children.” If you find yourself doing this, try to pare your writing back. Have confidence that your story is strong enough without emphasis.
Editing tips
- Do more than one edit (do it today!)
- Consider each line independently (is each word in the sentence pulling its weight?)
- Print it out and read it (you’ll spot things you don’t spot on the screen)
- Read it out loud (you’ll get a sense of rhythm and possible repetition)
- Read it from a different perspective (what would a stranger think? What about an enemy?)
- Be ruthless (you can probably afford to cut up to half of your first draft)
- Give yourself time (to step away from your story and return to it later with fresh eyes)
- Share with someone else (who you trust to give honest feedback)
- Cite your sources