As I sit alone in the Cave, banging away at my first draft, I find myself tempted to edit as I go. This temptation, I know from past novels, is a siren song. The urge to edit what I have already written calls to me, but that urge only leads to wreckage on a rocky shore. As writers know, the first draft is the hardest one. It is when we take a blank page and work the alchemy of bringing something to life on it. Hopefully, something worth reading. And while editing is vital to a good book, it is paralysis for a first draft, a paralysis that can lead to death of the piece.
I am being dramatic, but I think it is essential that we ignore the temptation to slow down as we write, to look behind us as Orpheus did as he sought to rescue his wife in the Underworld. Like that mythological man, if we turn to look behind us, we stand to lose the very thing we want to bring into the light.
So, dire predictions aside, I must once again turn to discipline and avoid the temptation of looking behind me. When the draft is finished, I’ll start tearing it apart. But for now, my job is to run the marathon of making it to the last page. Then I can start again at the beginning, and see what it is my characters and I have built together.
Yes, you truly cannot go back and read after yourself, or there you are, editing. It feels so good to get it right, but there is time for that. Thanks for your thoughts.
Your books have such good ratings on Goodreads, and the topic appeals so much to me. I’m looking forward to getting to know you better.
Thanks Debra. I am thrilled to be a part of the English Period Authors group. I look forward to reading about everyone’s period in English history. It looks like a fabulous site. http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/
Eleanor as a topic had consumed my life, but I am glad she has. 🙂