A story is written twice: in your first draft and again during the editing process. Editing allows us to uncover the true heart and voice of the story, to learn things about our characters that we didn't know ourselves.

I focus on combining realism with the magic of language in my editing: is this person's action in line with what they believe, would the average person relate to how this person feels, how can we take an otherwise mundane occurrence and use word choice and style to make it anew? My main concern is strengthening your story's tone, structure, and mood to allow the reader to experience a feeling they thought they knew well in a new light, as if it were for the first time. I believe taking stylistic risks and exploring themes from new points of view are critical to good storytelling.