I remember when writing The Golden Frog how many times my editor and I would go back and forth on even one sentence. It drove me nuts but it was great. It is the process of writing. The messenger is not the message. Yet all their personality flaws glare in your face if you do not like the message!
Thoreau would spend days on one sentence. He said there is no choice about the words. There is one and only one right word.
Write and rewrite… then do it again and again.
Did you see the movie, ‘A River Runs Through It’? The father was teaching his son to write. Whatever the son wrote, the father would read it, give it back to him, and say “Ok, now write it again with half as many words.”
Learning is often frustrating. Writing is like mathematics in that way. It can be a most frustrating process.
What you write is an intimate part of your self. It is not uncommon for edits to feel invasive.
Treat those edits as part of the process. Writing is a learned skill, like playing a musical instrument.
I am not a great writer, but I do have some sense of the process of how to become one.
For the purpose of blogging, I just write. I look forward to having the time to try my hand at really writing again.
As time passes, the process gets more and more fluid.
As you know, Hemmingway wrote a book that required no edits. That is something to aspire to, but do not mistake the goal for the process.
It takes a lot of pressure to make a diamond.
Beautiful.
Jai Shiva Shankara.
This is a beautiful reminder, to me, of the process necessary to cultivate our life and who we are as individuals as we learn to be more fluid in this play of life.
You once told me that a deep fulfillment can be found through writing… I believe that is true.
But when I think about writing… My mind goes blank and there are no thoughts to put on the paper…
Then I end up making up some story (lol) that just seems forced in order to have something there but it all seems very childish in a way… It seems I have lost the point somewhere?
There is the process and then there is the Process. Does not the Process require some form of Inspiration? Looks like I need to try more and more and again and again…
I guess these are all reasons why I have not done what you have told me to do. Funny how we so desire a hint of external direction in our lives and then once that is offered we do little or nothing with it… I guess these things take time to integrate and download.
Thanks Maharshi,
Your blog really spoke to me because I have been thinking about writing lately. I could apply what you’re saying to anything because I find the process of “editing” in any circumstance very hard. By the way, this reply was critiqued and rewritten a least five times. Tracy
At some point in this life time to have anyone read something that I wrote and be inspired or have it promote their healing.. would be amazing.Something I am much better at at this time is reading:)I have told many of my clients and friends,”I have a life time of knowledge to work with..all contained in Maharshi’s blogs alone”
Having the opportunity to comment on your blogs is yet another dimension of their gift.
Thank You Maharshi
Maharshi, I find it interesting that you do not consider yourself a great writer. I guess it depends of your definition of a great writer. Maybe a great writer is someone who touches your soul, and inspires you to become something more then you had previously allowed yourself to imagine. Maybe it is someone who helps you to believe in yourself or to find meaning in a seemingly mundane and superficial world. Who knows?
I can remember the first time I read the Golden Frog with crystal clarity. I was moved to tears, and I knew in that moment, that I had found my teacher. That I had found someone who could help to me to find meaning and fulfillment. For me, no other author even comes close.
Jai Guru Dev
It seems to me that an editor is offered the honor of feeling deeply into an individual writer’s unique rhythm, cadence and manner of expression. That editor is also offered the responsibility of enhancing that writer’s ability to express himself in his own unique way without imposing his/her own manner of expression. That imposition would indeed feel invasive. It’s a fine line to walk and a tremendous growth opportunity for both. The final work is the true test. If the editor’s presence is strongly felt in the finished product, perhaps he/she was invasive. However, if the reader was allowed the gift of feeling the writer’s soul, then that writer truly had an editor.
Everything is more about your relationship with the object than it is the object … be it with your written word, or with your editor. Easy to want to learn, sometimes difficult to be taught.
If the seed of inspiration is clear and true, the words flow. Feel deeply and clearly what you want to say in seed form. Become pregnant with the essence of what you want to say. Writing is not as much about the writing as it is about the essence of what you want to say. It must erupt from within … not be pulled out.
Wanting to be a good writer, for me, is a bit upside down. Have something you a passionate about saying, then let it flow. The point is the point. The tip of the pen is not.
Of course, I am not one for vacations. I prefer to travel only if there is a meaningful purpose to the treck. It’s the same sort of thing.
Needless to say, a healthy relationship with an unskilled editor is that you choose not to work with them.
Another profound message that is felt deeply. Thank you.
It is always good to hear from you Betty.