everyone says you have to write first in order to edit, that editing something is easier than starting from a blank page, so just get the words down and edit later it's a lie: editing is harder - ThreadSky

emuehlbe.bsky.social • 5 days ago

everyone says you have to write first in order to edit, that editing something is easier than starting from a blank page, so just get the words down and edit later

it's a lie: editing is harder

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kennotsosmart.bsky.social•5 days ago

I'm sure song-lyric writing is different, but I recently figured out a technique used by by a famous songwriter: once he has the idea for a song, he stream of consciousness writes down everything he can think of about it

kennotsosmart.bsky.social•5 days ago

Then he pulls things out of that pile and turns them into lines and verses. So that technique involves mostly editing work. Wish I had thought of it as a young guy, it seems like it could be really effective as a way to create. The writer im talking about was incredibly prolific

emuehlbe.bsky.social•5 days ago

You wouldn't build a house on the very first foundation you ever tried to put in; you'd look at it, evaluate what you did and see how far it landed from what you wanted, then inventory what you had and *tear it down to use the materials*

emuehlbe.bsky.social•5 days ago

every piece is its own thing, fit to its own purpose, and every part of it should work toward that end---and I do mean every part and honestly every word

emuehlbe.bsky.social•5 days ago

the rhetorical opportunity of a talk, an article, or a book is so ridiculously precious that it's imperative to meet it with an equivalent effort

emuehlbe.bsky.social•5 days ago

tl;dr embrace the rhetorical outline, friends!

emuehlbe.bsky.social•5 days ago

embrace blowing it up and harvesting the materials to make a new thing! it's backbreaking and it is worth it

emuehlbe.bsky.social•5 days ago

iff you take it as a real chance to revise. like, your first start isn't the foundation for the next drafts---it's just your first start.

greggiven.bsky.social•5 days ago

hot take: every step in the writing process is the hardest, especially while you're doing it

emuehlbe.bsky.social•5 days ago

I've been reading a bunch of stuff lately that just did not embrace the later steps and it makes me evangelical

greggiven.bsky.social•5 days ago

Oh believe me, I too preach from this gospel!

emuehlbe.bsky.social•5 days ago

what's the buzz, tell me what's ahappenen

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