Has it already been a month? I'm working my way through yet another edit of Collected, this time using the suggestions in the "Sophistication" section. I've highlighted every "as" and "ing" word. Apparently, not only are they passive and tell your reader the actions aren't that important but you have to make sure that two things that couldn't happen together aren't. The show for this section is all sentences that start with "as" and an "ing" word. I've got a few of those. I initially freaked out when every single page disappeared under yellow highlighter and I thought I'd have to rewrite the whole thing. I took the rest of the day off and felt much better the next day after I got through a couple of pages.

This time the editing is going much slower as I have to stop and analyse every sentence to make sure there isn't a better way to say it, a way to write it so the "as" and "ing" go away. There have been a lot of those that did and there have been a few that come at the start of sentences that I've purposely left in because they set up the action so well, make you focus on what comes after the phrase. And did you notice I used "because" in that last sentence instead of "as". Yes, "as" can mean that two things happen at the same time or it can mean "because" or "for". I use it a lot. Hence, the amount of yellow on the page.

I'm working today, the second time this school year. For the first time ever, I'd much rather be home writing or editing than in the classroom. I still enjoy teaching and, at this point, it does pay better at this point than my writing efforts. So off to throw myself together. Maybe I'll squeeze in some time tonight.