Interviewer: How much rewriting do you do?
Hemingway: It depends. I rewrote the ending of Farewell to Arms, the last page of it, 39 times before I was satisfied.
Interviewer: Was there some technical problem there? What was it that had stumped you? Hemingway: Getting the words right. — Ernest Hemingway, The Paris Review Interview, 1956
The Ego
As a published author, the focus of today’s post is nothing new to me. We write. We conclude that we have completed a flawless piece of written art. Not quite yet! I forget how many self-editing steps I take for each of my writings. Still, there are errors. Easily correctible mistakes that look at my embarrassed self. Why should such oversights not take hold of other writers? Of course, it should! If you work with a professional editor, trust that individual; for s/he has seen many an erroneusly compiled manuscript. However, make certain to do your part: self-editing. Also proofread with diligence the draft that your editor has sent to you. That draft is for your attentive reading, after all.
Enjoy your written draft, but do not assert that it is the best that can be done with it. The ego must rest throughout the process of writing, revising, proofreading, self-editing, but also during all the steps your editor offers you toward crafting your raw draft for the public eye.
Self-Critiquing One’s Own Writing/s
“Your manuscript is both good and original, but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good.”
~ Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)
Hemingway and Self-Editing
Interviewer: How much rewriting do you do? Hemingway: It depends. I rewrote the ending of Farewell to Arms, the last page of it, 39 times before I was satisfied. Interviewer: Was there some technical problem there? What was it that had stumped you? Hemingway: Getting the words right. — Ernest Hemingway, The Paris Review Interview, 1956
Writing and Self-Editing (Yes, Again!)
“Writing and rewriting are a constant search for what it is one is saying.” — John Updike
Image Credit: Chaos Confusion Isolation
Once again, back from fishing . . .
“If you re-read your work, you can find on re-reading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by re-reading and editing.” ~ William Safire
Self-editing . . .
It is as if Oscar Wilde is voicing my dilemma . . .
“I have been correcting the proofs of my poems. In the morning, after hard work, I took a comma out of one sentence . . . In the afternoon I put it back again.” ~ Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
An Editor or a Writer?
I seem not to be able to read for pleasure anymore. While supposedly doing some pleasure reading, I find myself in the editor’s chair. However, when I am writing, that editor takes a vacation, leaving me stranded.
The Art of Writing and Self-Editing
“By far, the hardest part regarding a work of art, apart from the start, is knowing precisely when to stop . . . It’s growing up, finding that most glowing and top spot, ascending to where its highest peak is reached . . . before descending for the deepest, darkest drop.” ~ Criss Jami