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Poor Garfield. In his heyday, he was amongst the most beloved characters on the funny pages, his plush likenesses fastened to car windows and his sarcastic barbs adorning office walls around the globe. Then, somewhere along the line, he underwent a pop-cultural re-evaluation. Jim Davis’ strip is now something of a pariah: just look at how "The Simpsons" paired it with "Love Is" as the kind of strip that Milhouse reads. What a comedown for a character once hip enough to be quoted in “Two Tribes” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. But yet, the orange cat has been saved from cultural oblivion by a peculiar trend: the remixed "Garfield" strip.

In my previous post How To Write a Children’s Book,  I listed editing as the last (but not least) step.  I’ve recently been reminded of the genius that blooms when we prune our overgrown phrases to let the content breathe.  It came from an unlikely place, the Garfield comic strip.

Actually, it was Garfield minus Garfield by Dan Walsh.  He found a way to make the chronically unfunny Garfield strip hilarious and poignant… remove Garfield.

By removing the distraction of Garfield, Mr. Walsh is able to “reveal the existential angst of a certain young Mr. Jon Arbuckle.”  It’s an obvious move in hindsight, one that makes you wonder how good Fred Basset might be… no, it’d still be terrible.

I thought I’d share an example of how I think editing gives me a chance to reassess my first drafts and communicate my intentions more clearly.

I thought I’d share Here is an example of how I think editing gives me a chance helps me to reassess my first drafts and communicate my intentions write more clearly.

Editing helps me write more clearly.

Editing = Clarity

E = C

OK, so you can go too far, but it’s a fun exercise to try, especially in Children’s writing when every word counts though you may be surprised how much improvement you’ll find when you apply it elsewhere.

OK, so you can go too far, but it’s a fun exercise to TRY , especially in Children’s writing when every word counts though you may be surprised how much improvement you’ll find when you apply IT! elsewhere.

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