Imagine you are holding a chunk of ice. The ice is cold and slippery. Words are also slippery. It’s your job to negotiate with words because writing is a process. (25 February 2025)

ICE stands for Ideas that you use to Create stories and then you need to Edit them. These are three distinct stages. Today we will talk about the third, but we must also discuss creation and ideas. Ideas are everywhere but you need to be relaxed to be able to find them.

Your creative approach depends on your personal style and method. People who are more auditory might prefer to speak their words into a smartphone and then use a tool like Descript to get a transcription. If you handwrite, do not read what you are writing. If you touchtype on a computer, cover the screen to avoid correcting as you write.

Editing comes later. This process is based on information about how the human brain works.

I recommend an approach I call “vomit copy”. This is where you promise yourself you will write for at least 15 minutes without hesitation. You might need to set an alarm to bring you back to now.

Spew out words the way we eject what’s in our stomach when we vomit. Do not worry about spelling or grammar or literals or syntax.

In doing this we aim to bypass that voice in our head that interrupts the creative process. What voice you ask? Pause for a few seconds. It’s that voice that’s asking “what voice?”

One of the benefits of “vomit copy” is the rhythm and flow you will find in your writing because you have let your subconscious get involved. But you must resist the urge to edit.

Now you need distance. Put your words away and forget them. We need to edit with a fresh mind.

When grapes are being picked for the world’s great wines the pickers make several passes. They collect ripe berries and then return again and again for berries that needed to ripen. Editing consists of several passes.

It helps here to put your words in a word processor file. It’s called a word processor for a reason because the technology allows you to process sentences. Your first pass might be to correct the literals, grammar and spelling.

Then consider your syntax and word order. The critical part of your brain loves this stage. Note how sentence length determines tone.

Another pass might involve looking at structure. Does your opening paragraph demand attention? Are you building tension as you head towards a climax? Ensure you have a powerful final paragraph. Does your writing have rhythm? What is the tone you are aiming to achieve?

The next pass might be to rewrite to ensure your writing is sensory. Ensure your sentences involve smell, touch, colour. Can you taste the sensations you describe? Can you feel the cat’s fur? Have you used appropriate metaphors?

Consider the power of rhyme and rhythm through assonance and alliteration. I can remember advertising jingles from decades ago because of that power: “We’re happy little Vegemites, as happy as can be. We all enjoy our Vegemite for breakfast, lunch and tea.”

You have a powerful set of tools available when you edit. Employ them, and remember that writing will always be a process.