When Avoiding The Rewrite

As I mentioned last post, I've been doing a lot of rewrites lately.

There are some writers who can't help but write. As frequently as possible, for hours on end, with passion and obsession. Then there are most writers who aren't like that at all. We often have to cajole and trick ourselves into getting the work done. Some people say we're not real writers if we have to struggle with it. We tell those people to go fuck themselves and we squeeze a little more work out of our keyboards.

Rewriting is normal, but there are times when one doesn't want to tackle it. It may be due to the fear that the rewrite will make it worse. Whatever the writer adds or subtracts will ruin that gentle balance of mess that originally sat there and that's like taking a step backwards. We don't want to take a step backwards. We're far enough behind as it is. Paralysis is easier and can often be rationalized as something else.

Here's a thing that helps me get over that feeling. I copy the entire text into another file, call that file "Story Title" Rewrite, and tell myself I can fuck up the story beyond recognition there and the original will remain pristine back in that other place. In fact, it might help to insist to myself that I fuck it up and come up with the most ridiculous shit that occurs to me every step of the way. I just need to push forward. Many times that ridiculous shit is brilliant.

If you're still having trouble, start slowly. Change a word here or there. Do a search for a name and replace it with another name. Add a sentence that you feel is too gorgeous not to exist right in the middle of that mess. Sooner or later you'll find you've pulled out of the driveway and home is in the rearview mirror. That means you're rolling.

Some Things Old Are New Again

Quick update.

I haven't been working a lot on new fiction the last couple of months. What I have been doing in the non-Mango fiction world is rewriting old stories so as to give them a better chance in the cold cruel editorial world. I don't know if I've made these stories great, but I do know I've made them a hell of a lot better than they were.

I still haven't finished MuchoMangoMayo! I'm trying to squeeze out an episode once every couple of weeks around the episodes I normally produce. I still have four May shows to go.

I have piles of ideas and I'm trying to find the time, the discipline, and in one case the money to make things happen.

Jonathan Brown - Murder Ballads

If you're not subscribed to the Indie Feed podcast, fix that.
http://traffic.libsyn.com/indiefeedpp/indiefeed_jonathanbrown_murderballads.mp3

Elizabeth Bishop - The Fish

This fish has had a tough life. From Indie Feed:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/indiefeedpp/indiefeed_elizabethbishop_thefish.mp3