She looked down, ashamed, as she realized she was still wearing her dirty old clothes.
I've heard sculptors say that the secret of their art is starting with a block of stone and carefully chipping away all the bits which don't belong.Roger J Carlson said:It's hard to explain but sometimes I can almost hear what a passage is supposed to sound like. Not the words, but the rhythm, the pattern. But when I try to put words into it, it comes out dull and prosaic.
... I've come to realize that if I can't start doing it for myself, I'm not really a writer.
That's a good analogy and very encouraging. I guess I've been influenced by Heinlein too much. He said, "Never revise except by editorial direction." That's probably good advice if you can produce publishable copy in your first draft. I can't.Mr Underhill said:I've heard sculptors say that the secret of their art is starting with a block of stone and carefully chipping away all the bits which don't belong.
Roger J Carlson said:I guess I've been influenced by Heinlein too much. He said, "Never revise except by editorial direction." That's probably good advice if you can produce publishable copy in your first draft. I can't.
James D. Macdonald said:He didn't mean what you think he meant. Heinlein himself wrote multiple drafts and revised his work until it was a finished piece.
James D. Macdonald said:I prefer time to words -- but if you can do five pages (1,250 words) per day, no one will say you're slacking.
Euan H. said:Still, it's better than "she rolled her eyes at him", which just sounds disgusting. What did he do? Roll 'em back?
Paolo said:Ok, so what do you do if your writing resembles something from Atlanta Nights?
Heh. How about:She rolled her eyes at him, which caused some comment around the room.
"Um," she said. "Could you pass those back. I'm lost without them."
"You have two glass eyes?" He nudged them with the toe of his boot, and they left silvery trail in their wake, like a pair of spherical slugs.