Words of Redemption

“Inspiration comes mythic-magical, but an annoying thing happens in the transmission from inspiration to worldly draft: Things come out a little fuzzy. Introductions are clunky, transitions are awkward, dialogue sounds forced, and sensory details are wholly lacking. A writer’s privilege is that she can fix it later. And then fix it again. There’s magic in the first raw draft of a story, but the real alchemy happens in rewriting.” - Ariel Gore

Last night, I completed the first read-through of my manuscript. I’ve been mired in this phase of the editing process for almost two months, compared to the one month I spent creating the first draft. But it’s been an experience: I have moved from over-editing (re-writes in longhand on the page, sometimes good, often too much) to under-editing (few notes in a section beyond salvaging) to right-editing (essential edits, short notes and memory triggers for the rewrite).

What’s more, I’ve learned a lot over the last two months. Some examples:

• Editing a first draft is a good exercise in humility. It really never does come out sounding like Homer, Shakespeare, Lewis, Eliot, Chesterton, etc.

• Editing a first draft is emotionally like running a marathon. At first, you feel inspired and driven by your courage. After a short time, you slow slightly and start to doubt yourself. This feeling passes quickly, you hit a second wind and start to speed through with new life. That feeling also passes quickly and is replaced with more extreme doubt and what-was-I-thinking-type emotions. Towards the end, you feel as though you can’t go on. Then you realize that only two miles remain and push through to the end solely on grit. When you cross the finish line, you collapse in a lifeless heap. Or something like that…

• Coffee stains provide manuscripts with a grizzled and distinguished look that almost enhances their quality. I am considering pouring a cup of French Roast on submission copies.

• Doing an entire draft before editing worked well for me. I know it doesn’t work for everyone; countless writers have had success drafting one page, section or chapter at a time. If I tried that, I’d still be on chapter two, pondering comma placement, debating whether to use semicolons or dashes and creating funny anagrams from the names of my characters. Silencing that editor for an entire month while I wrote 200 pages was freeing. I don’t think I’d ever do it any other way.

• I use the following words and phrases too much: “a bit,” “almost imperceptible,”  “a great deal,” and “seemed.” Never did find a sentence with all of them together.  That would have been sweet: “He seemed to have an almost imperceptible way of saying “a great deal,” just a bit too much.”

• Prose of poor quality can and often does exist both before and after prose of high quality.

• Passive voice I do not much use and adverbs I do not muchly rely on. This is a very, very good thing.

Now comes the part I’ve been looking forward to: Rewrites. I’ve known since I finished that I have a lot more to add (manuscript is only 55k and has some holes), and have already written new opening chapters. I’ll be spending each morning for the next month adding new chapters and revising what I have.

But not just yet. I think it would be wise to take a break of at least a few days before diving back in. In the meantime, there’s a short story in my head that needs to be written. It’s been clamoring to get out:

“Reggie Willburn was stuck.”

Off we go!

- B

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