Editing is a striptease. #muse
Photo by Stanley Dankoski
What do you see in this photo? #writingprompts
A long time ago, an ex-girlfriend painted a silhouette of a man’s upper body, with one shoulder white.
“What do you see?” she asked me.
I knew it was a trick question. I knew I would answer wrong. “A guy with no face,” I said.
She sighed. “Most men I ask either have no clue or say he’s taking his shirt off. But,” she said with a coy smile, “most women know he’s putting it back on.”
Just like with her painting, and just like with this photo, editing a manuscript can be viewed either way.
Editing is a striptease.
I find it’s easier to just write, generate as much material as possible. Go with everything you’ve got. Later you can peel back the layers and fling each article across the room.
Then you can tease out the story’s inner truth—here, the literal backstory—which will make itself known like a phoenix rising from ashes.
Likewise, as with the painting, it’s just as effective when you have your finger on the pulse of the book idea and you drive it toward your book’s ending or goal.