Earlier in the week, over at the Inkwell, I talked about writing in rough draft and how it’s best just to sometimes let go. I’m a writer, and sometimes writers have a difficult time with this. We think it’s best to self edit as we go along. Perhaps there is a part of us that feels if we were to be struck down at that moment, what ever unfinished prose was left on the page might define us. We must ensure it is as close to gold as possible.
Well, quite frankly, that’s hemlock to creativity. We must be willing to write without boundary if we expect to usurp the horizon. When reading Stephen King’s On Writing a couple of years ago, I remember being struck by his thought about writing with the door closed. This idea really resonated with me. Now, when I find myself in the first draft of anything, I start without stopping.
I’ve talked about writing rough drafts before and in fact, this particular post is a slight rewrite of one I wrote late summer last year, “Your Baby’s Born in the Rough Draft. You Raise Them in the Rewrite.” I still believe that this holds true.
I lack the time these days to indulge in something so frivolous as a sprawling rough draft, as I did in that post I mention. I long for the days when I can bleed on the page and empty the million and one thoughts that circle my brain.
The better I get at writing finished copy, the more time I’ll eventually have for the rough.
