Wednesday, December 2, 2009
revision revision revision
One of the problems I've had with revision comes from the advice to leave a piece alone for a little while and come back with a fresh mindset, presumably take it on from a different angle and bring something new to it. I've done this; put something away (it was a story), and then, a month later come back to it, only to find I've lost any feeling for it. I came back and thought, "well this thing is hopeless," so there has to be some middle ground, like maybe I should have stopped writing the thing but kept thinking about it, or perhaps it actually was hopeless, and it was good of me to recognize that and move on. Either way, that method didn't work for me. It sounds reasonable, though...
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I feel the same way. For me, you have to strike when the iron's hot. I've put something away and not had the same passion for it. I really think the max a piece should be left alone is a couple days, while mulling it over. I guess it depends on the work though.
ReplyDeleteI agree with striking while the iron's hot, but I think that the times when this approach is most appropriate is when you feel so close to the work that you can't edit. That's when you need to put it away. If you're putting it away because you're just tired of it, then you should come back to it in like, a day or so, because otherwise you'll just forget everything.
ReplyDeleteFor some writers there is no room for the "return". The process writers believe that there is something in the moment that prioritizes the words so one should take it when it's fresh. I think it was Allen Ginsberg who said, "first thought best thought." In any case, don't deny yourself your self the methods that work for you and don't forget to challenge yourself as well.
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