I'd been working on a short story. It began with the protagonist hearing about his father's death and returning to the Philippines to deal with it. Then I changed it. It began with the father calling his son home to meet before he dies. Now, I'm changing back to the original. So, it goes. This process has taken months.
Of course, I kick myself, thinking: why didn't I just keep the way it was. I wonder: I just wasted two months on something. Or I beat myself up: why didn't you think of a better solutions a long time ago.
Well, this is just the writing life and what I go through. Revisions, revisions.
About Me
- the last noel
- Actor, Los Angeles Times Beststelling Author, Buddhist Pastor
2 comments:
Yeah, writing is a highly inefficient process. Like making three right turns instead of one left.
Perhaps the words of the great James Baldwin will comfort you: "You go into a book and you're in the dark, really. You go in with a certain fear and trembling. You know one thing. You know you will not be the same person when this voyage is over. But you don't know what's going to happen to you between getting on the boat and stepping off." He was talking about the reading process, but his idea applies to writing as well, I think.
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