Polishing the Jumbled Mess by Sheila Horne

Pages and pages of words, thoughts and ideas flow into sentences and paragraphs. It’s raw like a piece of wood or slab of stone waiting to be shaped. That’s when the writer turns into a sculptor and picks up their tools. There are many writing tools needed and I can tell you about all of them. But this isn’t about structure and rules. This is about what I consider the four most important tools a writer needs to start crafting their work.

With my words on the page, the first tool I use is intuition. It tells me how to approach the jumbled mess I’ve written. Where I should start, where I should make the first cut. Then I pick up the second one, trust. Along with intuition it’s important. It tells me to trust myself, and not listen to my critical voice.  Once I see what’s happening on the page, I turn to training. The know-how gained through education and experience. It’s knowing when to move or delete paragraphs and sentences.What works and what doesn't. The last and hardest tool to use is the polisher. It's stepping back, detaching from the work and doing what's right for the story.        

Writing is a Commitment.

Writing is a commitment. I think of it as a job. I'm at my desk in my writing room at eight every morning. While drinking my coffee, I play a few word games to wake up my mind. Then it's onto a fifteen to thirty minute writing exercise. This is done in a notebook and by hand. I'll pick a word from the dictionary, or a book or I'll write a phrase, such as, I remember. Once I start, I don't stop. I go with the flow of my mind and follow it with my pen. I might begin with the tree in my front yard and end up in the jungle of South America. It doesn't matter. At some point I know I'll return to my yard. But if I don't that's okay. I do not edit at this time. I don't even think about grammar or correct words. Once I'm finished the exercise. I close my notebook, put it away for two weeks and move onto to whatever project I'm working on. Around noon I either stop writing or I have lunch and continue. There are times that I get lost in my writing. I'll start at eight and the next time I look at the clock, it's five in the afternoon. I have to admit I love those days. Of course, there are what I call "submission days." I find it takes time to submit a story for publication, at least for me. I review, edit and sometimes re-write a paragraph or sentence. Once I'm ready to send it, it's a matter of printing out the submission requirements, reading, re-reading them and checking to make sure I've covered every detail including the word count.This can take a few hours but it's worth the work. 

I also carry a small notebook and pen in my purse in case I need to jot down an idea, a piece of dialogue or description. To me, there is nothing more frustrating than being out, visualizing a great scene or writing the perfect paragraph in my head and not having anything to write it down on. If I don't it disappears.  

Happy writing.