First of all, I just pre-ordered your book, because it’s the kind of thing I want to do more than I do and it’s so important and plus it sounds amazing.
Second of all, I was lucky enough to study with Toni Cade Bambara in college for a little bit, and she said something I never forgot which was essentially: if you start with a close-up shot rather than a wide frame of the world, you see a problem that can be solved by a cop, a shrink, or a lawyer, but not by a revolution.
I think the way workshops are run is partly responsible for the confusion between revision and editing. It can be difficult to sort out of the order of tasks, especially when one is new to the process.
Regarding your example paragraphs from Minor Black Figures, the first one was extremely nice (almost rudely so for a first draft!). But the second one had a physiological effect one me, as though I were being swept along by a wave. Thank you for sharing them both.
I have such an issue with letting go of “fine” passages in my work when I know they can and should be better, so thank you for this personal example. The first opening is good! But the second one made me excited to read more. Although I do wish people would stop saying how helpful re-typing is, because ugh, I have lazy tendencies. Ah well. I will have to force myself to do it with the next one.
I find it’s so helpful to save every revision as its own new file so you never have to worry about chopping it up and rewriting because the original is still there, and also put anything you cut that you love into a separate file of extra pieces. Generally you’ll just be lying to yourself that they’ll get reused one day, but sometimes they do find new life elsewhere! Honestly so grateful to live in the age of computers for revisions.
Brilliant. I don't write fiction, only non-fiction but still relevant. I'm at the revising stage of an essay at the moment, working on structure, which means at some stage, printing and literally cutting and pasting sentences or paragraphs or sections before starting again.
Thank you. You are brilliant and helpful. As a Jesuit with a deep admiration for The Assommoir I look forward to your new book. But what do you mean by Jesuit (reformed)?
"That they wanted to get to character immediately, and I thought, you know what, a book is not a movie, and readers should have to read it"
I agree with this on principle, but I wonder if you can't do both at once? The world is interesting, sure, but it kind of has to be. I'm personally far more interested in a character's interpretation of the world than I am the true state of the world. That's where the meaning lies.
I think my "issue" with your opening (which is not to say it's bad!) is that it deals in "they"s. I suppose if your intent is to set the focus on the world as a whole first, maybe this gets the job done. But where is the lens? The paradigm? It feels unfocused to me. It feels almost reporter-like, in an uncomfortable, "I'm reading the news again" sort of way.
I don't think it's about when we get to the character, but that this sort of wholesale viewpoint is not that interesting on its own.
Of course, this is such a short excerpt I can hardly make all these claims. I'd be interested to see the rest of the book. I think I might.
First of all, I just pre-ordered your book, because it’s the kind of thing I want to do more than I do and it’s so important and plus it sounds amazing.
Second of all, I was lucky enough to study with Toni Cade Bambara in college for a little bit, and she said something I never forgot which was essentially: if you start with a close-up shot rather than a wide frame of the world, you see a problem that can be solved by a cop, a shrink, or a lawyer, but not by a revolution.
SHE ATE THAT!!!!
I think the way workshops are run is partly responsible for the confusion between revision and editing. It can be difficult to sort out of the order of tasks, especially when one is new to the process.
Regarding your example paragraphs from Minor Black Figures, the first one was extremely nice (almost rudely so for a first draft!). But the second one had a physiological effect one me, as though I were being swept along by a wave. Thank you for sharing them both.
I have such an issue with letting go of “fine” passages in my work when I know they can and should be better, so thank you for this personal example. The first opening is good! But the second one made me excited to read more. Although I do wish people would stop saying how helpful re-typing is, because ugh, I have lazy tendencies. Ah well. I will have to force myself to do it with the next one.
I find it’s so helpful to save every revision as its own new file so you never have to worry about chopping it up and rewriting because the original is still there, and also put anything you cut that you love into a separate file of extra pieces. Generally you’ll just be lying to yourself that they’ll get reused one day, but sometimes they do find new life elsewhere! Honestly so grateful to live in the age of computers for revisions.
Relieved about the (reformed.)
This was great - really appreciate you using specific examples from your work. Can't wait to read the full novel!
Brilliant. I don't write fiction, only non-fiction but still relevant. I'm at the revising stage of an essay at the moment, working on structure, which means at some stage, printing and literally cutting and pasting sentences or paragraphs or sections before starting again.
I'm revising my first feature film and I cannot tell you how badly I needed this order imposed unto my chaos. THANK YOU
i think you would love haldor laxness btw!
I do!!
i am reading UNDER THE GLACIER right now, why is he so unexpectedly funny??
Revision = re-vision. Seeing again, a different way.
Thank you. You are brilliant and helpful. As a Jesuit with a deep admiration for The Assommoir I look forward to your new book. But what do you mean by Jesuit (reformed)?
I have the same curiosity! And I also echo the “brilliant and helpful” comment!
this is great thanks... what app do you use for "voice to text" (or did you mean text to voice)?
Haha yeah text to voice
This was so incredibly helpful! Thank you. I just started an MFA program and I didn’t even realize how much I needed this until I read it.
wow your process is exactly like mine except if i had an editor and was good at writing
Thank you!! I’ve sent so many of my writer buds to your Substack. I hope they find all of your writing “lectures” as useful as I have.
I love the well-thought-out process. It's precise and followable. Thanks for the gift!
"That they wanted to get to character immediately, and I thought, you know what, a book is not a movie, and readers should have to read it"
I agree with this on principle, but I wonder if you can't do both at once? The world is interesting, sure, but it kind of has to be. I'm personally far more interested in a character's interpretation of the world than I am the true state of the world. That's where the meaning lies.
I think my "issue" with your opening (which is not to say it's bad!) is that it deals in "they"s. I suppose if your intent is to set the focus on the world as a whole first, maybe this gets the job done. But where is the lens? The paradigm? It feels unfocused to me. It feels almost reporter-like, in an uncomfortable, "I'm reading the news again" sort of way.
I don't think it's about when we get to the character, but that this sort of wholesale viewpoint is not that interesting on its own.
Of course, this is such a short excerpt I can hardly make all these claims. I'd be interested to see the rest of the book. I think I might.