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.