Welcome to our second post in the ‘You Too?’ series, where I pose a writing related question and leave it to you to answer it. Last month we were talking about non-writing days. This month I want to ask you something even more personal.

I’m currently working with an editor on my collection of short, short stories called Baverstock’s Allsorts. (Keep your ears pricked, there will be more news about that soon!) The other day I noticed something in one of his e-mails.

He referred to the edited manuscript as a ‘battlefield.’

While I’d be the first to admit that some valiant little words have lost their lives in the process of a good edit, I realised that for me the word ‘battlefield’ seemed like an unusual word to use.

The more I thought about it, the more I discovered the words to describe how I felt about the manuscript.

To me, the edit was more like a good ‘exfoliation.’ I loved the process of removing words and reworking sentences until every single line read smoothly. It was ‘invigorating’ and ‘enjoyable’ to make these changes.

So it got me thinking about the words we use to describe our writing.

Do you find yourself using combative expressions when approaching the page? Do you ‘tackle’ a rewrite? ‘Slash’ words while editing?

Or do you find yourself using nurturing words like ‘coaxing’ characters into life and ‘unearthing’ plot points?

Do you think of yourself ‘spending’ time writing or ‘investing’ time writing?

I’m interested to hear your thoughts on the subject!

How do you describe your writing? What effect do those words have on the way you experience your writing?