Almost every writer has heard, since he or she first put fingers to keyboard or pen to paper, that the real writing is the rewriting. That the strength of the writing is in the editing. That writing and rewriting again and again is the name of the game.
Challenging, no?
Something to truly try one’s patience, right?
Time-consuming…I just want to finish the thing!
What do you mean that doesn’t fit in the story, and I need to take it out?
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Hmmmm, a bit distressing but true. William Faulkner has been quoted over and over as having said, “You’ve got to kill all your darlings.” What do you think? Was he right?
Most of us writers believe whatever we first put down on paper or type to computer screen should be fabulous, complete, amazing. One gets a bit of a pain in the gut when thinking of pruning the work, but while we may spare a few of our darlings here and there, the truth of the matter is Faulkner was right. His point was on track. Writing the work is just half the battle. Maybe not even half. You’ve just begun.
Many times, you’ll find as you write. that your original great idea is overwhelmed by the actual story. By that I mean you’ll range far afield from the beginning inspiration that got you moving. Check out some of my other articles for writers, and you’ll see an oft-repeated theme in what I’m saying here.
And you’re going to find that many of your truly best, great thoughts and ideas will occur to you when you’re deep in writing — sitting at your computer or with your legal pad in your lap — not just daydreaming and thinking about writing. When those words hit the computer screen or the paper you write on.
Despite your greatest hopes that your material will emerge complete and awesome at the first stroke, don’t count on it. This tripping off in other directions creates a great story, but it does leave some bumpy writing that needs tidying and ideas that need completing or revising. Little things like the character has the wrong color beard crop up along with big things like major plot shifts that alter the course of the story, and you need to catch all the details.
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Many self-proclaimed ‘writers’ want us to believe they carry all their ideas around in their heads until they can get the time to spew them down onto paper — no doubt in pristine form. However, how many of them actually do it? Presuming you’re one who writes, don’t get caught in that ‘romantic, artistic’ web of silliness where you believe you can work it all out in your head and write it all down later. There may have been one or two who could do it, but frankly, I think they’re fibbing too.
Don’t make yourself crazy by believing there’s an entire army of writers out there who can turn out perfect work at first stroke while you struggle with every sentence. It’s self-destructive, and it could prevent you from spreading your wings and doing the sweat work to make your writing sparkle like the gem it is. Hey, a diamond is just a rock until it’s cut and polished.
So don’t wail and weep when you confront your rewrite, celebrate. You’ve got the guts down on paper; now is the time to outshine the others and turn that heap of guts into a god.
Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash
At this point, my best advice is to let your work rest between writing and editing, then rereading the writing you’ve written can be both fun and enlightening. Oh, and don’t try to skip the rewrite, it just doesn’t work.
Just write, my fellow writers, write!
*If you’d like to read a bit of my writing, my award-winning short story Skykicker is available on Medium - free to read.
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