Jun

11

Simplicity

June 11, 2008 | 3 Comments

“A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Okay I used this quote because I’ve been playing a lot of Civilization IV and it’s one of the quotes on there when you get a technology. But it’s equally true when it comes to writing and editing.

When I write a first draft I tend to paint with a broad brush. I get my ideas down, skim over stuff I’m not 100% on and just try to get my ideas and my world down on paper. Usually somewhere (hopefully after a couple of chapters) the characters take over and then I’m really just trying to hit the high notes, make sure I’m getting the gist of it down.

Second draft I expand. I fill in those missing gaps. I breathe more life into those shaky beginning chapters now that I know those characters better. Sometimes I cut. In the second draft of Grace I deleted one of my favorite scenes because it didn’t fit with the chapter rhythm of the rest of the book.

Third draft though, I really cut. I savage. I omit those needless words hanging on like dead weight. In writing, like many other arts, it is not so much what you say as what you don’t say. That’s hard to explain, but something you get better at with time.

That’s why reading aloud can sometimes be good, especially with dialogue. Of course it’s also possible to whittle away at your story until there is nothing left. That’s why it’s important to know what parts are bedrock and what parts aren’t. It’s another skill that comes with practice, but an invaluable tool.


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3 Comments so far

  1. Sonja Foust on June 11, 2008 10:09 am

    That’s very wise. I think it was Stephen King who encourages writers to murder their darlings. Often, the scenes or lines or words we are most attached to are the ones that really need to go!

  2. Merinda on June 11, 2008 10:16 am

    Murdering your darlings sounds like something Stephen King would say ;) I’m pretty sure it was him though. You know you’ve really put on your editing had when you delete a clever turn of phrase because you know it’s just clever and not really helping anything.

  3. Koshka on June 11, 2008 5:21 pm

    I kind of understand. Even though I’ve never exactly written seriously, I have something that’s less than a page long that I constantly rearrange and rewrite so it has perfect rhythm when reading. It’s just a little project for practice.

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