The Writing Train

There's a freight train that I'll sometime come across on the way to work, if I'm unlucky. Usually delays me by about twenty minutes but I'd swear the train was never ending if you asked me in the moment.

As I go through my editor's pre-edit checklist, that's kind of what I feel like when it comes to working on my two latest works. I'll call it the writing train.

Now don't get me wrong, the checklist is completely valid and I'm learning just how wordy I am. With useless words too! It's painful but necessary to admit if I am going to move any further in bettering my craft.  Still, I can't help but wonder if the end is in sight. Not to mention, I'm horrified and thinking what my books would be like without this grueling work. "Poor readers" is all I can say. Either way, I'm sure my critique partner is having a ball considering she told me I was too wordy from the very beginning. And to think, I've improved.

I don't know whether to chalk this up to good 'ol hindsight or to question why most of us must learn things the hard way. I mean think about it. How many manuscripts or versions of one manuscript did you need to write before you developed some sort of presentable work? If you're like the majority of writers, I'm willing to bet quite a few. Question is whether we'd change this process.

The train I see every now and then has a purpose so while it's annoying to my morning commute, I can't and won't change its scheduling or path. And of course, it's a bit fascinating to watch as it goes on and on and on. Same thing with my writing. I love comparing the before and after, seeing how I've grown and what I can do better.

We are not always hopeless creatures of habit. There is a purpose to our writing and the process of our craft. It may just take a bit of stepping back and watching the process to understand this.

Filed under: Toni Kelly, Writer's Life, Writing Topics