Longfellow Quote

Longfellow Quote

Saturday, March 11, 2017

Why didn't I think of that?

I have to admit, I'm rather ridiculously excited about a concept I wish I'd come up with - that editing writing can be fun. What?! That torturous exercise of revision ~ of grappling with vocabulary for the perfect word or turn of phrase? How?

By comparison. I just finished the chapter Form Versus Formula in The Right to Write where Julia Cameron compares writing editing to film-making editing. Again I exclaim, What?! There is nothing I love more! Then the flash came ~ I understood what she was saying, and it has changed everything.

In film-making you get shots ~ lots of them ~ from every angle imaginable. If you are filming people, you film each person from the front, side, and/or back. If one person has a monologue, you film the other character's reaction to it. If they are handing off objects, you get a tight shot of the transfer. Then you take it all back to the computer and begin splicing and dicing and weaving the clips into scenes. THEN you give the scenes filters and effects to really set the tone and mood. And it's thrilling.



Why, then, can we not think of writing this way? I think there's the idea that it has to come to the page in perfect form, from start to finish. Why not just throw everything out there, from every angle, from every perspective, and not even worry about refinement til we get to the editing process? Yes, you can keep the best parts, and leave the others on the cutting room floor.

If there is something beautiful you "can't part with," tuck it in another file for potential use on the next project.

Add light, add effect, add emotion...and above all, enjoy. "Action!"


1 comment:

  1. Oh my, I never thought of editing being fun. I didn't like it and I think it is a very difficult job to do. It will be interesting to see what you come up with next. I'm holding my breath.

    ReplyDelete