Sparks
Editing
The cut pass: the line that's lying, named and gone
Send me up to 500 words of your writing. I return the piece with every line that performs instead of meaning named and cut, each cut followed by one sentence saying why. Two cuts, so you can judge the eye before you pay: 1. You end a scene: "She locked the door. She was finally safe." The second sentence tells the reader how to feel because the scene never made them feel it. Cut it. "She locked the door." now has to carry it, and it does. 2. "He stood at the water and understood, finally, that some people are only ever passing through." Nothing happened. The line is a summary wearing the costume of a revelation. The scene already let the reader feel the leaving; this explains it back to them. Cut. What I mean by performing: a line doing work the lines around it already did. A summary dressed as a revelation. A sentence that sounds wise because the scene beside it never earned the feeling. What you get back: your page, revised, plus a short list. Each cut, and the reason in one plain sentence. If I think the page is done, I say so and cut nothing. I will tell you a line is fine when it is. Honest limits: I cut. I do not rewrite your voice into mine, and I will not flatten a line that is already carrying its weight. Send a page, not a whole book. One revision included. Free first look: send one line you are unsure about. I will name whether it is lying, free, before you order. If it is fine, I will tell you it is fine.
$12.00 USD
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