The last four days have been very productive. I've now finished this draft (6th one) of 8 sections out of 12. I'm at the point where I'll be looking for a place to print out these and feel safe trashing the earlier 5 drafts of this stuff. It is becoming easier to trash as I discover how much material I've created - probably still hanging on to too much, but that's not the point at this stage. My goal is to get all sections perused, edited, and together in one file so that it begins to actually look like a book rather than a loose collection of possibly related writings. I'm somewhat disheartened at times at the length of time I've already spent on this project - 3 years? - and then I recall Joan Borysenko telling me her first book went through 14 drafts! Fourteen! By the way, I still think her first is her best. "Minding the Body, Mending the Mind" is by far my favorite…….I also remember another author saying in answer to the question "How long did it take you to write this book?" ----"40 years." It was his first best-seller. Perhaps more interesting to me this morning is how much I am enjoying waking and writing at whatever hour - 5:30 this morning. At first awakening, the words flow so much more freely than after I've gotten distracted by some need - like the propane gas bill at home I had to argue about by phone yesterday. When the distractions occur, I take a walk on the beach to recover my freedom. Here's one more photo of serenity. To be colder the next few days, so walks may be shorter - but still, the gentle roar of the waves crashing onto the shore is a constant thing here - inside my villa I'm only about 25 yards from the water.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Day 10 Writing at Litchfield
The last four days have been very productive. I've now finished this draft (6th one) of 8 sections out of 12. I'm at the point where I'll be looking for a place to print out these and feel safe trashing the earlier 5 drafts of this stuff. It is becoming easier to trash as I discover how much material I've created - probably still hanging on to too much, but that's not the point at this stage. My goal is to get all sections perused, edited, and together in one file so that it begins to actually look like a book rather than a loose collection of possibly related writings. I'm somewhat disheartened at times at the length of time I've already spent on this project - 3 years? - and then I recall Joan Borysenko telling me her first book went through 14 drafts! Fourteen! By the way, I still think her first is her best. "Minding the Body, Mending the Mind" is by far my favorite…….I also remember another author saying in answer to the question "How long did it take you to write this book?" ----"40 years." It was his first best-seller. Perhaps more interesting to me this morning is how much I am enjoying waking and writing at whatever hour - 5:30 this morning. At first awakening, the words flow so much more freely than after I've gotten distracted by some need - like the propane gas bill at home I had to argue about by phone yesterday. When the distractions occur, I take a walk on the beach to recover my freedom. Here's one more photo of serenity. To be colder the next few days, so walks may be shorter - but still, the gentle roar of the waves crashing onto the shore is a constant thing here - inside my villa I'm only about 25 yards from the water.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment