I believe we all like to think we could sit down and create something whole, without errors. In sewing, you’d never have to rip out a seam. In knitting, you’d never have to frog. (That is the word for unknitting, if you didn’t know.) And in gardening, planting day would be the end of it. It would always look that good. No weeding.
So it is with writing. We sometimes even expect the story to flow out of us whole. And editing is somehow correcting an error of sorts. In fact if it cannot flow out “whole” we think we “can’t” write.
Fixing is an integral part of the creative process.
Fixing can even be a fun part of the process. (I hear some of you groan. Fine. I get it.) If you’re a natural generator (like me) you might try to find the fun in creative fixing. Why? Your work isn’t created until it is perfected. (Or at least bettered to your best ability.)
Writing is 75% editing. Maybe even 90%
I’ve spent all week writing a synopsis of my finished novel. Perhaps AI could have done that… but I don’t think so. For me, writing the synopsis was painful. (Like OHMIGOD, painful.) But there is incredible value in representing your own work in your own words.
Book editors care about how it’s written and what it says about your novel. And once you’ve finally got a 2-page synopsis, you can see your plot in its barebones. You can see plot holes in a manageable format.
So, yes I’ve been sewing a lot, and knitting, spurred on by the closing of JoAnn Fabrics (what a tragedy!) and editing and weeding. Little by little I work to embrace the second half of creating – Fixing.
Where does your preference and energy lie? This week, I substacked about how to triage your to-do list. If you’re not already a subscriber, go here: https://writewithoutthefight.substack.com
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