As Henry Miller Commands, Part 6 Cement A Little Every Day

AS HENRY MILLER COMMANDS, PART 6: CEMENT A LITTLE EVERY DAY We’ve come to what I think is probably the most difficult of this collection of posts inspired by Henry Miller’s Eleven Commandments of Writing. If you haven’t been following along from the start, or want another take a look at the full list of commandments, you'll be able to click back to the first submit here. What makes this troublesomeâ€"for meâ€"is that I actually have to confess I’m not 100% sure what he’s talking about when he says: 6. Cement slightly every single day, rather than add new fertilizers. David Caolo, in “Productivity with Henry Miller” thinks, “quantity six goes again to primary: Don’t start (fertilize) ‘Project B’ till Project A is complete.” But if that’s true, then, so far, four of the primary six commandments essentially say the identical thing: “Work on one factor at a time till completed,” and the opposite two inform us to do this happily, whether or not we wish to or notâ€"which is weird whenever you put it like that. But that may’t beâ€"there needs to be one thing new right here, one thing I’m not getting within the distinction between “cement” and “fertilizer.” “It is healthier to have a few strong words than the promise of many different concepts which will take form or not,” Michael Edmondstone added in “Henry Miller’s eleven Commandments for Writing Well.” “Keep your writing centered and secure. Once you have the best foundation, the remaining will come.” I think that will get us nearer. In my mind, the word â €œcement” means to finish something, to complete it. Then when I hear “add new fertilizers” I think of one way or the other working to strengthen something you’ve already began. If you’re growing crops, you plant the seed or seedling first then add fertilizer, right? And you retain including fertilizer as necessary to maintain it wholesome and growing. So that is Henry Miller saying: “End up with slightly little bit of completed textual content daily as an alternative of including notes and bits and revisions and edits to current text.” This would seem to match up with Heinlein’s third rule: “You must refrain from rewriting, besides to editorial order”â€"a rule that, at least as interpreted by Dean Wesley Smith, I take some exception with. But at the same time, I suppose you will need to keep away from a entice that too many of us fall into, which is the parable of perfectionismâ€"the need to revise and revise and revise many times and once more till the act of â €œengaged on my novel” replaces the creation of the novel itselfâ€"the method turns into a circular end to itself and it’s by no means done, it’s never learn by anybody, including people who may not prefer it. Dean Wesley Smith will get into this idea of fear as a motivator to keep revising, and it’s one of the factors he and I agree upon. You do need to, eventually, “cement” the damn thing. You need to send it out to brokers or editors or publish it your self. Writing calls for to be learn, and readers demand completed writing. Okay, then, so how will we “cement” (learn: end) a little every day? Here’s a process that’s labored for me, and I supply it right here as a suggestionâ€"it’s no less than price a attempt. I are inclined to assume when it comes to chapters, but you possibly can break that down into scenes when you like. Go again to the third commandment: “Don’t be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is in hand.” There we receive d into the concept of “chunking,” or breaking large duties into smaller element tasks. Assuming you took that advice, you’re now writing, in ecstasy, some “chunk” of textâ€"a scene, a chapter, nonetheless you need to break up that up, every day. I typically but not at all times have a tendency to complete a chapter at a time. So, yesterday you finished a scene, writing in pleasure and with out nervousness and not caring should you spelled every little thing right or if it’s any good at all, whatever the temper you might need been in. Today, then, return over that chunk of text and cement it. What I do is start a day’s writing by enhancing yesterday’s writing. This is on the very least a clean-up pass however might be a pretty extreme rewrite, primarily based on last night’s sleep. Did some logic gap, some plot point I forgot, or some higher concept keep me up? In any case, now I go forward and cement that, enhancing with intent. At the top of that brief course of I now have a rough-accomplished scene (or chapter, and so forth.) and the story is fresh in my head so I can then transfer into the next scene and write it in ecstasy. Eventually, then, revising Chapter 1 then writing Chapter 2 on Monday; revising Chapter 2 then writing Chapter three on Tuesday; and so forth, I build the book one chapter at a time. And right here’s whereâ€"ah . . . it’s as if the clouds have parted even as I type thisâ€"Henry Miller and I match up again. I cement that chapter, joyfully write the next, but then add no new fertilizer . . . until the complete revision pass. When I say “full revision cross,” I imply once I’ve gotten to the end of the rough draft and have the (largely) completed book, from the primary chapter to the last. I can then begin at the beginning and read it as a complete, revising the beginning in accordance with new concepts and left turns I’ve taken along the best way, and revising the ending based on a more energizing recollection of the beginning, which I may have written in ecstasy and edited with intent some months ago. But aside from that one move on every chapter as I go, I don’t add extra fertilizer to the earlier chapters whereas I’m still barreling by way of the tough draft. I make copious notesâ€"reminders to return and fix this scene, add that character, cut something, and so onâ€"but I don’t actually do any of these revisions till I even have the total tough draft done. Then that full revision takes me from tough draft (solely I ever see it) to first draft (time for an editor or a minimum of a trusted first reader to start offering good advice). Okay, how do I rewrite this for my very own list of commandments? 6. Clean up yesterday’s writing then write the following part, which you’ll clean up tomorrow before including tomorrow’s new text. Do no additional revision till the tough draft is finished. I bet there’s a leaner way to say that. Something like, “Cement somewhat every single day, rather than add new fertilizers.” â€"Philip Athans About Philip Athans