Today I want to focus on the two major tasks of a novelist: writing and editing.
Writing is a creative act. Producing something from nothing. Conquering the blank page. Inventing something original that didn’t exist before you wrote it down. I don’t know how others do it, but for me it’s difficult to create something in words.
My process involves structuring my novel into quarters, and then into scenes. I develop each scene by choosing a point-of-view character who has a goal and an obstacle to overcome. With this outline, I start to imagine the action: the context, the characters, and the details, as if it were a scene in a movie. I try to plan a disaster at the end, a cliffhanger, but I don’t always achieve this.
I sit and close my eyes and write words on my laptop. I have tried writing longhand but find I can’t read my handwriting afterward. At any rate, I find it impossible to go from plan to sentences. I need to first visualize the scene and then describe it. This process happens at every level, from the landscape or room decoration, important objects, and the faces of the characters, to the clothes they are wearing. In fact, I research faces on imdb.com and choose actors to play the parts so I can envision them acting out the dialog and action.
Take another example, to describe the gold Mercedes that played such a big part in Lana’s story, I researched used-car-selling websites until I found the car I wanted. I don’t even care how much of this visual detail gets into the story, but I can’t write anything until I see it.
I will admit to doing this work not only sitting in front of my laptop, but also while walking, driving, traveling, or sitting on my terrace. I need to have the scene worked out and ready to play before I can put it into words. Once I have the picture in my mind, I only need to describe the scene. Writing the description is far simpler than creating it.
I also find that once I start to get into the heads of my characters, they help me with their dialog and gestures. I uncover the inconsistencies that I haven’t explained, the other needs and wants that help to make them real. The creative muse thing happens when I am relaxed and participating in the action.
I find this process quite intuitive. I
t reminds me of when I rode horses and practiced dressage, or “doma clasica” as they call it in Spain. I learned from a wonderful book called Centereed Riding by Sally Swift, that correct communication with your horse requires “soft eyes” which means relaxing your eyes and widening your field of vision to liberate your mind. She provides techniques to expand your peripheral vision and control your breathing to reach this relaxed state. On the other hand, Dressage also requires many analytical activities like remembering to keep your heels down or your posture correct or your thumbs up and feel your arms extend to connect with the bit in your horse’s mouth. But when you concentrate on this list of tasks, your eyes get hard and narrowed and focused. You get tense in your shoulders and your seat and you lose the connection with your horse. You can be relaxed and connected or correct and rigid. I learned very well the difference between the two states of being.
So for me, editing is an analytical task, requiring concentration and focus. You have to look for flaws, errors, extra or repeated words, redundancies, and inconsistent or unclear sentences. When you are editing your own work, you must have “hard beady eyes” as you probe and search for weaknesses. This mindset will help you eliminate the unwanted and perfect your manuscript before submitting it.
Creativity, however, requires an intuitive connection with your inner muse. I have often thought that the most intelligent part of my brain is not the one in charge, the conscious orchestra director who decides what instrument leads the piece we are playing. The most intelligent part of me is the one who finds the answer when I am driving or taking a shower or dreaming. For example, when I strive to recall the name of the actor who participated in the movie “Wind River” who also was in “Bourne Legacy” and played some superhero in the Marvel films, I can’t remember until I relax and think of something else. Of course, Jeremy Renner. But if I concentrate and try to remember, I don’t. Only when I relax and look for soft eyes, can I access this information.
Ernest Hemmingway is famously attributed as saying “Write drunk, edit sober.” Historians have debunked this, clearing his name and attesting that he actually wrote in the mornings before having any alcohol. It doesn’t matter, the metaphor and the principle are valid. Writing is something better done relaxed, with soft eyes and an intuitive mindset; editing requires analytical thinking and hard focused eyes.
So maybe you learned that you are a “right-brained” intuitive and creative free-thinker. Or maybe you are “left-brained” and tend to be more quantitative and analytical, paying attention to details and relying on logic. I contend that you need both to be a good writer. So whichever is your strongest suit, work on the other one until you gain enough competence to perform both writing and editing tasks successfully. I also recommend separating the two different tasks so you can stay in the zone longer and work more efficiently.
And most importantly, learn to recognize the different states of mind so you can apply the appropriate skills for the job you are doing.
