Transcripts
1. Introudaction: Today we're starting
in a new direction. Many of us have just come across a massive amount of words for
this nanowire most season. And now it's time to take
a look at our manuscripts. Take a look at our work in
progress and say what's next? Well, this next series is
going to cover all of it. All of it about editing. These videos are also
going to be structured in a slightly different
format than normal. I will first speak
concisely about a topic, and then we will move
over to my computer where I will be
going through some of my old manuscripts
and kinda show you what I'm talking about for those that have been
subscribers first off, thank you so much. I really do appreciate
all of the support. But you're going to
see a kinda turn. And me and my personality as
far as it comes to editing. And there's a reason
for this, right? So I've got this
very hippie mindset. I want you to live your dreams. I want you to do
the best you can. I want all of that for
you and I don't want you to give up and I will
always be that person. But there's this
analytical side of me as well that is ruthless. There's no other way to put it. I can just be very picky
and very ruthless. And it isn't to attack, it isn't too demoralizing. It isn't to do
anything like that. But I believe that
being aware as the first step in overcoming
a mature mistakes, right? I will be a little harsh side. And that is one reason that I'm using my own personal work. Yes, it was me whenever I
was between the ages 1522, I've wrote most of what
you will see as examples. This is none of my new work. So that's one reason
I'm using that is because I'm gonna be mean about it and
I don't want to be mean to anybody else. I don't want to put anyone
else's stuff out there for other people to snicker at
or whatever the case may be. So you're going to get
my personal stuff. And that will be with
all of the examples.
5. Types Of Repetition: Now today's topic is going to revolve
around repetitiveness. Repetitiveness where
you repeat yourself. And this comes in
two main forms. We either one, use the same word over and over and over when we
are just free writing, we don't, we shouldn't have
that editor on, right? And so you might say, it was chilly outside
and I got the chills. And then when someone
jumped out of the corner, a chill ran up my spine. It's chill is not something
that you would use that many times in
one paragraph, right? But when you're
just free writing, that one word kinda
sticks out to you and you just kinda keep using it
and it's totally fine. That's what editing is for. Get your words out on the paper. Don't worry about if you're
being repetitive or not. Then the second thing
that people commonly do, and it's a little bit harder
to pinpoint for yourself, is the use of repetitive
sentence structures. Mary went to the store. Mary went to find her
brother married with two IL-2 where her brother
was looking at green beans. You know, it's very not just
using the same verb, right? That's the repetitive word, but starting off that
sentence with Mary, Mary, Mary sheep, sheep, sheep. And not using any of your
other tools that you have.
6. When Should You Use Repetition: So we're going to dig
into this before we get started on what
is just horrible. I want to also tell
you that there are some really strategic ways
to use repetitiveness. And I want you to be aware of this before you cut
everything out. Because sometimes repeating
yourself or repeating a certain structure is
incredibly powerful. It is incredibly moving and you need to be aware
of how it's done, right? So you keep those
parts in your story. And then you also need to be aware of how it's done wrong. So you can really remove that
stuff from your manuscript. In the United States, I would say one of the most famous speeches in our country in our history was delivered by a man
named Martin Luther King. And he was a rights activist. And he just had some
really wonderful speeches. And he did this through many
different techniques, right? He had a way of
talking to people, he had a way of delivering, he had a way of convincing. So see how I just did. He had a way. It's like it engages
you a little bit. Now, if I did that for
the next 30 minutes, it would not be as powerful. But kind of to get
my point across, I was using the same tone. I was using the same phrasing with a little bit
changing at the end. And this is something
Martin Luther King was excellent at. Of course, I would
assume that most of us, if you were born in
the US, definitely. If you weren't,
maybe not so sure, but look into
because it's really amazing to just be aware of. But I would say that we know Martin Luther King immediately. You think of, I have
a dream, right? And that's because he repeated this phrase many times that
it was so, so powerful. I Have a Dream XYZ. I Have a Dream XYZ, right? And it just really spoke
to people's hearts. Now, I'm going to say
another thing that he did, as if you actually look at his speech and you
break it down, you're going to notice that
Martin Luther King said like America or Americans
like five times, right? But he said the word
we over 70 times. Why is that? Let me see if I can find something real quick
and I'll read it to you. And you tell me what is
powerful about him using the word we over him
using the word American. As we walk, we must
take the pledge that we shall
always march ahead. We cannot turn back. How was that more
powerful than saying, you know, as we walk, Americans must take the pledge. Americans cannot turn back. It doesn't have the
same effect saying a week is so, so powerful. He continues not just with
that first sentence, right? But he says, we can
never be satisfied. We can never be satisfied, blah, blah, blah. We write. So it starts off in this one
thing where it's grounding all of us together and tying us and a thread with
the word wheat. We cannot accept this. We can now take this
and then it moves into a more powerful
activists mindset. We, what was it? We can never be
satisfied, right? So it starts off with just
threading us together. And then next thing you know,
he just pulls the string out and he really delivers it. But unless you're
trying to invoke a very specific emotion
in a very specific scene. I wouldn't use repetition. I do use it frequently, but it is always intentional
and it is always to enhance emotion in a scene
that I feel like is lacking.
7. Repetition Editing In Your Wip: So I'm going to switch over to my computer and I'm
going to show you a few things that in one of my older manuscripts I
noticed and it just, it was a problem. I'll just put it that way. So hopefully you can see this. This is 1500 words. And my biggest flaw in this specific manuscript as the amount of times I used apps. And I didn't always do this, but I found like whenever I was trying to pick up the pace, I would use as all the time
because this happened. This happened. Then this happened, then
this happened, right? Because that's like all
happening at one time. Very, very poor
sentence structure. But this is what my personal
cynic strip move up. But this is what
my personal flow with sentence structure is. Even today, I don't do it
nearly as much as I used to, but I still use ads, especially if I'm trying to
ramp up the action, right? So let's just read a
little bit of this and see how horrible it is. I looked around
astonished as I've watched everyone in
the arena and Neil, like I did and weep. So there's actually a, I didn't intend for that, but there's kind
of an example of a really good way to
use repetitiveness. This particular
character, I think is a, is about to become
a leader, right? And so seeing how he feels a
certain way and then showing other people
repeating is one way I was getting across that he was stepping into this
leadership position. Also, if you're looking
at this and you're like, does that say what
I think it says. This particular series was started when I was like
18 or 19 years old. I had a really
horrible tendency. I named my characters terrible. Okay, um, I'm not gonna lie. Every single one of my
characters kinda have like spy code names that
they weren't given. And I decided that every
single one of them should be named after alcoholic beverages because I thought that was cool. So if you see Bryce bourbon or GI the mud slide
or Tony martini, just realize I have no
excuse excuse whatsoever. It is what it is. But let's get back to how I use as way too
much very quickly. And then you can kinda
see in red how it all she's way too much like if you were
reading this 1500 words, there's no way you would
continue to read this. So let's let's keep going. I looked around astonished as I watch everyone in the arena, Neil, like I did and
weep like I did. They loved him just
as much as I had. I turned the torch over
to AKI Sakai and she, she proudly took it from me as she stood
next to the fire. Even in death price, he'll always be by your side. She whispered as more tiers
flooded her red eyes. Lot lot of badness there. I know, I know. Brice bourbon liter, the
legends did what he said to me. My eyes widen. They thought I was dead. They really thought I was dead. Thank you. I said quietly as I forced on, teleported over to
Sammy. Hello there. I whispered in her ear. I couldn't hear everyone take a breadth of
shock across the room. As I said, the words semi cried as she wrapped
her arms around me. Right? It's painful to read as the
seven as this happened, as this happens,
as this happened, it is so, so painful. And so this is one
way that you can really take a look
at your work and pinpoint what your specific
senate structure issue is. Once you figure it out, that's when you go. Okay? Why do I do this? And how can I make it better? For example, I know that I use as when action is ramping up, this happened as this
happened, right? And in order to keep
up with fast pacing, I just make my
sentences shorter. So I'll kinda let me go to
that bottom one and rewrite, rewrite it real quick. You know, whatever. But there's so many
different ways to write a sentence to
get a point across, to get a vision or
an idea across. And you don't have to use
the word asked to do it. Yes. As is a perfectly good word. But it just shouldn't
be your only word. I guess what my point
is is that there are several ways that you
can be doing this. The issue is that you have to define what your structure is
that you most commonly do.
Elena Cortes, Author
