I am, at this moment, in the midst of editing. I feel it is going ok.
I used to dread it, and, when I began to actually string enough words together to have something to edit, I would hear people say, “Don’t ever publish a first draft”, and,
“ONLY, ONLY, edit when All the writing is done.”
The first saying, scared me, and, always, I would remember a blurb attributed to Isaac Asimov, on how he was purported NEVER to have edited, and, Always published his first drafts.
The editing when done, didn’t work for me either. And, it wasn’t until I read, or saw, in some interview with Charles Bukowski, that his purported writing schedule was,
- Write like a fiend on day One
- Edit on day Two, in order to make it understandable to the reader.
A simple, simple thing.
And, it changed my perspective on editing. And, it was my poems that showed me this, for, I would often love them, when they flowed from my fingertips, but, a day, two days, three, later, and I’d read them to my wife, and, in the reading, I would see that I had often omitted “Bridges”, which allowed her to see what I saw.
Sometimes, the act of editing would just be to say…
It’s ok to leave the reader guessing.
As an untested author, I have a very limited understanding of how others see my work. From the little feedback I’ve gotten, they see things that I never would see, and, much of that comes from their reaction to my “poems”, for, what has happened has often been that the words spoke to something within them, and, them alone, speaking to their own journey and, they would see me (the writer), as someone who was sharing something of what they had experienced.
That mostly happens when I’m utterly honest, and, not trying to convey anything specific, simply, letting the words come and, letting whatever emotions / memories I have, attach themselves and, running with it.
But,
Like I say,
its still only a handful of people.
So, as I’m editing now, joining this middle with the almost end section of “The Chronicles of dog”, I’m looking to simply, understand it,
myself.
For, I’m also on a journey. I also have no idea where Raven, Beast, Rider, and,
dog,
are going.
-Timberbee
