On Time
Time. It's a simple thing. It just kinda passes and most of the time we're in the flow and just don't care. But while we're thinking about that other stuff part of our brains still remain parked where we left them. They're churning over what we've done, what we've written and how we wrote it. But they also moves things around. Things once so familiar are given distance.
So we have a tool. Time. When you're in a rush to craft your masterpiece remember one thing. Time grants objectivity. If you look at a piece the moment after you write it you will see perfection. This is because your brain is still wrapped into the shape of the words. You can't separate yourself. So give yourself a week. It may seem long and your excitement may make it difficult to tolerate but I promise you it will be worth it. Time grants objectivity and when it comes time to edit, your work will be infinitely better for the break.
White Room Realisation
So I'm editing this piece I was going to use to open my next attempt at a long story. I finish all the changes from my notes and send it off to a friend. He points out that the tense past/present seems a bit unclear in places and that he really doesn't like pieces set inside characters head's. Fair enough. But that gets me thinking. Exactly what's going on in the piece that IS interesting.
It comes in around 1500 words. It's describing a man waking up in a white room with no idea of where he is. He stumbles around a bit, hung over, and has a look out the window, finds a note addressed to himself etc. All fine I thought. But then I realised it's like 1500 words of scene setting. Not very much happens. If you think of that in terms of novel length it'd end up spanning four or more pages. Do you really want to start a novel with four pages of some guy stumbling around a room, not knowing where he is?
The answer is no. The answer is re-write.
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