writing and revision - discuss!
So I just totally "came out" at work about writing a novel. Turns out one of my co-workers is a playwright! : )
Also, some thoughts on writing and revision! Ok, so we've all written crap at one point. All writers do sometimes; it's inevitable. And for me, what gets in the way of starting any new writing project is a fear that the idea will be so bad, I'll be forever embarrassed to think about it, like a few of the quickly-abandoned ideas that lurk in my writing past. But a question: is there such a thing as an irredeemably bad idea? I'm not sure there is; I am thinking more and more that it's all in the execution. All creative writing classes I have taken have, by virtue of their structure, encouraged the rapid generation and abandonment of new ideas rather than the reworking of old ones, so now I'm always tempted to make snap judgements on my first drafts and throw them away if they're not perfect. Which is silly, because so much of the writing process happens in revision. So, people, what are your experiences with revision? Do you have a revision process? What do you usually change? Do you tend tomake changes more on the sentence level, on the level of deep structure, both, something else? How do you motivate yourself to keep working on a piece that seems hopeless? What is the most valuable revision technique or attitude you've learned?
Also, some thoughts on writing and revision! Ok, so we've all written crap at one point. All writers do sometimes; it's inevitable. And for me, what gets in the way of starting any new writing project is a fear that the idea will be so bad, I'll be forever embarrassed to think about it, like a few of the quickly-abandoned ideas that lurk in my writing past. But a question: is there such a thing as an irredeemably bad idea? I'm not sure there is; I am thinking more and more that it's all in the execution. All creative writing classes I have taken have, by virtue of their structure, encouraged the rapid generation and abandonment of new ideas rather than the reworking of old ones, so now I'm always tempted to make snap judgements on my first drafts and throw them away if they're not perfect. Which is silly, because so much of the writing process happens in revision. So, people, what are your experiences with revision? Do you have a revision process? What do you usually change? Do you tend tomake changes more on the sentence level, on the level of deep structure, both, something else? How do you motivate yourself to keep working on a piece that seems hopeless? What is the most valuable revision technique or attitude you've learned?