1) I believe (but correct me if I’m wrong) that tonsillectomies were performed by hooking the tonsils through the nose with a metal implement and then drawing(yanking) them out. It must have hurt a lot.2) Tre-panning- this involved drilling small holes into the skull of a living person in order to release the evil spirits responsible for madness, or the bad humors responsible for aberrant moods. Those of us (creative, overly dramatic types) suffering from severe mood swings would have been in trouble.3) Child-birth- I’ve done this twice. Drug-free The first time for 26 hours and the second for only 4. Let me tell you. It is excruciatingly painful either way. Really.
So all three of the above are tests of our ability to deal with pain. None of them, I submit, are as painful as the process of revision. I know, I’ve blithely talked about how much I love revision and I do but I wasn’t expecting to have to do much on the new book. Wrong. Once I get my editor’s notes I’ll be able to jump in with both eyes open and deal with the massive amount of work that re-writing a book entails but right now I’m waiting. I’ve got some ideas, I’m raring to go, I’m waiting. However in the meantime I read a fantastic book which I’m arguing is a must-read for all us writers. It’s called ‘The Artful Edit’ and it’s by Susan Bell- who is a non-fiction writer herself. It’s short, snappy and full of advice and ideas and interviews and short pieces on writing by authors such as Michael Ondaatje, Tracy Kidder and Ann Patchett whose (if we are to believe them) first drafts suck as much as ours do. I discovered with much relief that I am guilty of many of the mistakes that new writers make in their writing. Relief because it means I’m not the only one over-using adjectives, adverbs and the present participle (-ing) form of verbs. And once these errors of clarity and continuity and structure are recognized, they can be hunted down and killed! No, they can be addressed and fixed and out of the dung-heap may rise a phoenix.
I know I know- very lame previous sentence, but this book makes me feel like shouting from the rooftops and I just had to tell you all about it.
I feel armed with knowledge. I feel as if I am further along the road to understanding that writing is not just about inspiration and story ideas. Equally important is the crafting of those ideas into shape. We must be writers and editors both.
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