Writing About Writers and Writing
After two days of being on hiatus, I am back and ready to blog. My apologies to my 4 readers out there who actually give a damn about what I say!
I have written about writing on many occasions, which is its own little kind of circle. I have written about what a writer is, what a writer does, and what success looks like to some degree and from my point of view. Every time I write about writing, I get a TON of reads on the post. That tells me that, as I have said before, either a lot of people on here are writers or a lot of them want to be.
Today, I want to address something that is unique to each of us who writes from time to time or is an actual writer. That something is the actual process. We all have one, or at least we all should. To paraphrase a recent respondent to one my posts, “the greatest of writers are actually great rewriters.
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great post
great post. pchan33
Dreams Matter.
re: creating
I reckon I can comment on this from the science side, whatever my creds might (not) be on the writing side.
Holmes chided Watson (probably as professor Bell chided student Conan Doyle), "You see, but you do not observe". To see, in this sense, is to have the picture. To observe is to put that picture in its context: How did it get here? Does it belong? How long will it stay? Where, if anywhere , is it going? What is the connection of this picture to that one over there? Each question, especially if the answer is "I don't know, I gotta figure this out", is the possible germ of a scientific hypothesis and an experimental test - or of a storyline and its test, the written work.
Revision, for me, then (apart from grammar and syntax), takes the form of "how well did I track the process from observation to deduction, from picture to inference to hypothesis to answer?" If the track is clean and pleasing to my eye and ear, I submit for publication. In science, this is usually successful, though in the process I discover all those with power over the work whose opinions of what is "clear" differ from mine. For other forms of writing, I have not yet trod the path.
An important element of revision is distance. While the most obvious revisions can and often are done immediately, the more substantial ones usually are impossible unless I have set the thing in a "drawer" for a week or more, and then return to it. At that point the "It's mine, all mine, wha ha ha" has worn off, and it's easier (on the eyes if not the ego) to spot the bugs.
"Apologies for this long letter. I did not have time to write a short one." - George Bernard Shaw.
I try
I try to go back and cut out lots of extraneous stuff. I freelance write mostly for dog magazines and usually my articles are a couple of hundred words too long. So I go back and look for whatever doesn't directly contribute to the article.
I once read an article from Stephen King about editing and he talked about how much he cuts from what he writes. It was very interesting.
And now you've given me the idea that I need to write about writing to get more readers, LOL! Over at writingup I routinely get a fair number of reads, but here, blah, not so much.
Brenna
Check out my Writing Up site. Blog there too and make more money!
Brenna Fender's Blog
re: I try
Over at writingup I routinely get a fair number of reads, but here, blah, not so much.
Interesting. I do reasonably well here (considering the, to date, lower traffic overall), but at wUp, I hardly get a sniff so far.
On writing
I grew up knowing I was destined to be a writer. Suffice to say, I stopped writing several years ago. I try to do this blog stuff, but it's hard, especially when the type of writing I used to do was mainly short stories.
As for inspiration, I get most of that from real life, whatever experiences are going on, late night conversations, memories. My problem is, I never took to the whole "rewriting" concept. Ah well.
ahhh
It is, I think, the hardest part of it. It is where you can take your good writing and make it great, or bad writing and make it good. It is, though, the dirty, sloppy, tough part of writing.
Please dont take that as a knock, Im just saying that it is soooo hard.
Later
You're right
It IS the hardest part, and I have so much appreciation for writers because of it.
Revisioning Identity
I've had to ponder, through this blogging experience, revising my identity. There is a marketplace ethic in these blog-sites, and they offer valuable information--what people like to read.
I have historically written serious pieces on Stress Management and Stress Wellness, with other psychological stuff thrown in. Very boring, apparently, and very little read.
Then, when I go to my satirical and ironic observations of the lives we live, I become popular.
Go figure.
So my task is to weave some 'serious' material into all my silliness.
deorre
'Life Stew, With Psychosis