I've recently been doing some copy editing for a friend - and I love it! There are so many things in writing that I innately know, but I don't know why it is as it is. I'm enjoying the challenge of editing copy together with researching appropriate explanations of why I've made a certain change to the text.
I've also been writing website content for a client. Although I know what his business is about, I don't know all the technical details. I was also given free reign to create the content for all of the pages. We'd brainstormed a bit so I knew what we needed. Then, I wrote content that I would find interesting to read if I landed on his page. Once the copy was written, I handed it over to him to alter.
It is definitely far easier to get cracking and to make additions and alterations when you have something - anything - to start with. For him, altering my copy triggered ideas and it was far easier for him to have something to get him started than to face a blank page.
This applies to so many things - not just writing.
It is easier to take over something and improve on what exists than to create something new from scratch.
And it is also easier to critique what someone else had created, rather than to create it yourself.
For the person that has created something from scratch, there is always room for improvement over time and with experience.
It really is just to make that first step - to create something and get it off the ground. That is the hard part.
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