Imagine yourself brought before a teeming pile of words, swarming with spelling errors, misplaced modifiers and dangling participles.
Oh, the dangling!
Oh, the tangled mass, the crippled bits of derailed Trains of Thought.
Oh, the grammarian’s torment!!
Some may roll their eyes and stride away from the jumble. Some may, with disgusted sneers, kick the pile, sending words skidding across the pavement. Others may pick curiously through the pile.
Me?
I’m going to stand back and, with triumphal achievement, admire the colossal pile. Then, I’m going to get a running start and dive headfirst into the heap of haggard words and sentences, broken phrasing and grammatical errors crying out for relief from dangling and disarray.
I choose this approach because that pile is my finished novel.
Raw, unedited and tender, but finished.
And all 220, 083 words—that’s right, I said two hundred twenty thousand, eighty three words—are MINE!!
They were born, screaming in my head, while lying awake at night or driving, doing the dishes, walking from Point A to Point B. They drew their first breath as I pondered plot and experienced schizophrenic moments as people talked in my head.
My little words grew up on paper and left me homesick for the people they became.
It’s really cool.
So now, with a little (lot of )edit here and a little (lot of) edit there, a trim, a shave, a good scrubbing, they’ll become my very first black and white masterpiece.
Ahhhh…….
Favorite thoughts on writing:
If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.
-Toni Morrison
The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible. -Vladimir Nabakov
Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.
-Gene Fowler
If I don't write to empty my mind, I go mad.
-Lord Byron
The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.
-Mark Twain
The story I am writing exists, written in absolutely perfect fashion, some place, in the air. All I must do is find it, and copy it.
-Jules Renard,
4 comments:
I get to read it now, right? I will give you the first review!
Congratulations! What a feat! Can't wait to read it! And yes, I DO use too many exclamation points--something I should edit out of this comment, but will leave it raw in honor of your masterpiece. :)
Can you feel the jealousy radiating from the east side of Sugarloaf to the west? I am PROUD of YOU and can't wait for a little sample of what you have been working on for so long!
Congratulations! I can only imagine what sense of accomplishment you must feel. It's still a dream of mine but maybe I should start with a small children's book or something. Plus, I've had no amazing thoughts lately...
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