“The Art of Writing is in the Rewriting,” Steven Gillis, guest columnist Writers Digest
Writing is Zen.
Writing isn’t about inspiration or waiting for your muse to arrive and undress.
Writing is about getting down to it, about finding your way into the moment and sustaining the energy for as long as you can effectively and in the rhythm of your narrative.
I used to teach creative writing at Eastern Michigan University. (I loved teaching and but for the demands on my time from my myriad of other projects I would still be teaching; but I digress.) My students were grad-level, talented kids, and so when I told them at the start of each semester that they would write a single story for the semester they looked at me quizzically. They were used to writing several stories in the course of a few months. Nope, I said, one story and you will rewrite your story over and over again.
Each semester I was met with skepticism. Rewrite? More than once? But why? And how?
Exactly.
To read the entire article, go to Writers Digest.