I cleaned out my refrigerator the other day. Yuck. There were numerous re-sealable plastic containers of leftovers from the holidays. As I dumped each bowl into the sink nothing seemed even remotely appetizing. I remember everything being so yummy on Christmas, a week and a half later -- not so much.
Writing is like that. When I’m composing that first draft, I’m totally on a roll. Fabulous ideas are popping into my head. The characters are speaking to me. It’s so good! Then I come back a month later to revise and think, “What? This dialogue is unnatural. Where’s the description? etc.”
It’s annoying, but it’s part of the process. The point is, when I clean out my refrigerator I typically find delicious leftovers from two nights ago that are still perfectly good. No one was eating them because they were hidden behind the milk. Heck, they were right next to the baking soda and are as fresh as can be. It’s the same when I’m editing. There are usually scrumptious paragraphs of emotion and great conflict tucked among the pages. I relish discovering them.
I enjoy cutting out the garbage just as much. I can be verbose on one page and have minimal description on the next. It’s not unlike noticing it’s time to restock the refrigerator after you purge all the yucky stuff.
There is one last thing cleaning the refrigerator and writing have in common. They’re both satisfying!
No matter how hard I looked today I couldn’t find a relevant quote. So, I’m writing my own. Here goes.
The difference between food and writing is good writing comes with time and good food goes bad with time.
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