[stylist] stylist Digest, Vol 81, Issue 19
Kerry Thompson
kethompson1964 at gmail.com
Thu Jan 13 01:37:49 UTC 2011
Hi friends,
Bridgit, everybody's process is different. For me, writing is about the
language. So, from the first, the words are as important as the story
I'm telling with them. Of course, sometimes it's necessary to get the
story germ down as quickly as possible before I forget it.
That leads me to my second point. For me, writing and rewriting aren't
separate, distinct phases of the process. I'm a tinkerer. I continually
reread my work in progress, pausing to substitute a better word here, to
expand a phrase to a paragraph there where it strikes me that the
meaning is unclear. And, as the story grows, especially with a novel, it
sometimes becomes necessary to go back to add or alter allusions or
whole scenes.
With short stories, too, the manuscript is dynamic. I tighten here,
expand there, occasionally move or delete entire passages. But it's not
a matter of Draft 1, Draft 2, Draft 3. I don't work that way and can't
even fully understand the concept of working that way. But, as I say,
everybody's process is different. You have to find the process that
works for you. If producing distinct drafts and revisions works for you,
then by all means go for it!
Like you, I learned to read print, before losing my sight. Like you,
too, I love Nineteenth Century literature, especially Dickens. Wharton
isn't one of my favorites, though. I prefer the Brontes. I think,
perhaps, you and I were taught writing in different ways, from different
aesthetic paradigms. It sounds like you're into modernism, while I'm
more old fashioned. One way isn't right and the other wrong, they're
just different.
Chris, LOL That's short and to the point. Very good!
Solidarity and Peace,
Kerry
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