Lecture 4: writing and editing
- Editing: look at the opening paragraph of the first draft of George Orwell's 1984. Consider how many changes Orwell made to that draft. Here is an analysis of the changes Orwell made to the first page of the book, between that first draft and the final, published version.
- John Wyndham didn't get Day of the Triffids' opening right at first. Compare the original manuscript (below) with the published version. What is different? What has been removed, added, and moved? Why is the published version better?
Image of manuscript page taken at the Out of this World exhibition at the British Library.