Gene commented that sometimes you just want to do the fun stuff! And I replied:
Yeah... thinking about it, hobbyists will take almost infinite pains to do things that many of us would disdain, too. The people painting miniature figures will happily spend hours and days getting the paint just so. Or the fellow training bonsai trees -- years to get a little bit of wood to twist just right. Or backyard gardening -- how much weeding did you do? For how many tomatoes?
Editing seems to be part and parcel of writing fiction, though. It's amusing -- there are a number of blog postings around where new writers have asked "won't the editors or agents do the editing for me?" and the resounding, consistent answer is "If you want your writing to beat the other guys, do the editing yourself." And I think we learn an awful lot about our own writing by trying to clean things out. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, etc.
Maybe it's just that the easy parts aren't a challenge -- and we (or at least I) still get a thrill on trying to do a little bit more, a little bit more challenging stuff. Although you gotta do the easy stuff too.
Maybe it's a question of where you set your goals? Only eating sweets... you'll get a tummy ache. Mix it up, and enjoy that crusty French bread sometimes, too.
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Date: 2009-08-20 05:32 am (UTC)Yeah... thinking about it, hobbyists will take almost infinite pains to do things that many of us would disdain, too. The people painting miniature figures will happily spend hours and days getting the paint just so. Or the fellow training bonsai trees -- years to get a little bit of wood to twist just right. Or backyard gardening -- how much weeding did you do? For how many tomatoes?
Editing seems to be part and parcel of writing fiction, though. It's amusing -- there are a number of blog postings around where new writers have asked "won't the editors or agents do the editing for me?" and the resounding, consistent answer is "If you want your writing to beat the other guys, do the editing yourself." And I think we learn an awful lot about our own writing by trying to clean things out. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, etc.
Maybe it's just that the easy parts aren't a challenge -- and we (or at least I) still get a thrill on trying to do a little bit more, a little bit more challenging stuff. Although you gotta do the easy stuff too.
Maybe it's a question of where you set your goals? Only eating sweets... you'll get a tummy ache. Mix it up, and enjoy that crusty French bread sometimes, too.