If You Want To Write, Just Write!

The surest way for a beginning writer to become overwhelmed by a sense of personal failure is to believe every sentence must be perfect when it is first set down. Successful writers don't dwell on that – they just write, understanding that the inevitable task of rewriting will follow.

It is said, and rightly so, that writing is mostly rewriting. Writing can be conceived of as two processes - creativity and technique. Creativity builds wonderful stories and it emerges from some innate spot deep inside gifted minds. One either has it or he doesn't. Technique is a learned craft. It involves vocabulary, organization, grammar, sentence structure, paragraphing, and so on. Think of that first draft as the process of transferring wonderful ideas from your creative mind to the page. Think of technique as that which you apply during the rewriting process. Rewriting can become both a challenging and rewarding part of the process. I have grown to love everything about the rewriting process.

Many beginners love to create and hate to polish (the rewriting). Unless you are willing to master the techniques of writing and rewriting you have to make a choice. Either stop expecting that what you write will ever sell, or engage professional help to take the wonderful story you have laid down and apply their rewriting skills to it for you. More well known authors than you might expect use the latter approach. They spend their time on the creative side of writing and let an expert in technique polish what they have written.

During the process of rewriting, mental flexibility becomes the byword. Each rewrite becomes an analysis of whether or not each word, each phrase, each sentence and paragraph, is the very best it can be at that particular place in the story. This often means that words and phrased the author 'loves' may well need to be replaced in the service of improving the piece. When those come up for me (and they do) I soothe my wounded feelings by adding the phrase to a list I keep of 'use sometime' phrases. That way it isn't lost forever at that excruciatingly difficult pressing of the delete key.

So, my advice to beginning writers is just write. Enjoy the process of creating a wonderful story. Then, learn to enjoy the rewriting process – that is where the beauty and easy flow of a piece will come to life.

By: Tom Gnagey

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Tom Gnagey is a successful, long time, writer with more than 100 original books and 350 stories in his personally published bibliography (seven pen names). He has rewritten dozens manuscripts for others. His education includes degrees in psychology, education, and philosophy. Tom is a nationally known speaker and creative writing teacher. For FREE SAMPLES of his stories and information about his Writing Rx services go to www.TomsBookNook.com now.