Two nights ago I fell asleep while doing revisions: sitting on the couch, scrolling, checking consistency, chapter titles, scrolling, scrolling ... drool ... hummingbird ... leather ... sandy feet ... and suddenly I woke up.
Then I read about Stephanie Perkins' don't-take-prisoners-unless-you-can-use-them-to-brew-you-more-coffee revision plan on her blog: Come home from work, nap and then revisions until 3-4AM! (Thanks to Laini Taylor for the link.) Holy cow. That is dedication. That is belief. That is the sheer madness that I'm beginning to think must be necessary to succeed.
Story uber alles. Necessity knows no law, etc.
What do you want for dinner?
Revise.
What time is it?
Revise.
Do you want to change that shirt?
Revise.
Here, at least clean your face.
Revise.
Do you even know where you are?
Revise.
E.B. White told us to omit needless words. Stephanie Perkins reminds us to omit needless activities. What counts as "needless" will vary! TV? Sure. Sleep? Depends. Food? Probably not.
I'm no longer writing just so I can "be an author." And I'm no longer writing because it's fun (though it is, desperately fun sometimes). I'm writing because I believe in the story and the characters. They own me; I owe them. How I let them remain incomplete?
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1 comment:
Madness! I've never been able to pull of the late-night thing, even in college! My best efforts at "all-nighters" ended in desktop puddles of drool. I'm a little better at early mornings, but already this morning my new 6 am resolve has slipped to 6:40. Still, better than 8!
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