The Place For My Writers Notes

original posting 22 May 2009

Writers' Digest, October 2004, pages 26 to 33, has a collection of short "nuggets of wisdom" related to getting published. Maria Schneider is the author of the compilation. Take a deep breath, and here we go:

"Keep in mind that you can't be writer, editor and critic all at the same time. For your first draft, at least, allow yourself to give in to the muse. Once you look back, you'll see the imagery that's been developed. You might even be surprised by where your characters have taken you." Connie Rose Porter

It's interesting how many writers and artists talk about shifting hats. There's the creative rush, the first draft, the writing-by-the-seat-of-your-pants push where you blindfold the editor and the critic and just let the words roll, listen to the characters chatter and put down whatever they say, sketch the world in broad strokes -- get it all out there. Then there's the editing and critiquing part, cleaning up, connecting continuity, identifying what is going on and making sure that it works. The revision chunk, reordering, adding foreshadowing and gilding here and there, removing that extra proscenium that snuck in when no one was watching. A planning piece, sometimes indulged before the creative rush to lay out the direction of that rush, sometimes done in clear hindsight where the rush has already gone before.

But separating these parts, and being able to set the others aside while focusing on today's direction -- that's a key ability. And learning when to say it's time to party and just let the words roll for a while, or when to say enough, McDuff, it's time to clean up and see what we have to work with -- ah, that's the trick.

Do you like to start with a rush, and then straighten up? Or do you lay out the plans and outlines, then color inside the lines? Or maybe some mixture of the two approaches, a bit of planning, then a bit of wild times, then a check of the stars and the sun before setting the sails for another day? Whichever, the point here is to learn to shift gears, so that sometimes you're running wild in creative push, and other times you are checking the frame and making sure that the tires are up to pressure. You don't do maintenance while you're racing around the track, but you do need to make a pit stop from time to time, too.