Edits Are Like A Rubix Cube
Having written is a lot nicer than trying to write something in the first place. It's terribly satisfying to have a polished, finished product, which you can then curl up with in the quiet of your home and hug and fondle. But man, getting to that stage can be pulling teeth sometimes. (PS, I have a new appreciation for that term, as I think anyone who's not a boarded dentist pretty much hates trying to do complicated dental work. Ugh teeth.)
In the course of working through large-scale rewrites, I've been experiencing a sensation that I can best liken to a rubix cube.
Chapter by chapter, I undo everything and turn it into a big mess. I stare at the screen and complain and pull at my hair. Figuring out how to fit the pieces together seems like an impossible headache, and sometimes I just have to fiddle around making moves here and there. But by the end of editing a chapter, it all clicks into place, and suddenly the final product is that much closer--like when you twist the cube around and a side is almost all one color.
However, to get that last square in the right place, you have to completely destroy what you've got. It's not gone, but it sure looks like it, as you twist things left and right. That's what going to the next chapter feels like: "Oh dear, what a mess again."
But then that chapter falls into place, too, and I've gained some ground. Onto wrecking another chapter, and patching it up again. So I suppose 1 step back, 2 steps forward. Every time you feel like you're almost there, you twist it around and it looks awful again--but then when it falls into position, that's one step closer to the end.
In the course of working through large-scale rewrites, I've been experiencing a sensation that I can best liken to a rubix cube.
Chapter by chapter, I undo everything and turn it into a big mess. I stare at the screen and complain and pull at my hair. Figuring out how to fit the pieces together seems like an impossible headache, and sometimes I just have to fiddle around making moves here and there. But by the end of editing a chapter, it all clicks into place, and suddenly the final product is that much closer--like when you twist the cube around and a side is almost all one color.
However, to get that last square in the right place, you have to completely destroy what you've got. It's not gone, but it sure looks like it, as you twist things left and right. That's what going to the next chapter feels like: "Oh dear, what a mess again."
But then that chapter falls into place, too, and I've gained some ground. Onto wrecking another chapter, and patching it up again. So I suppose 1 step back, 2 steps forward. Every time you feel like you're almost there, you twist it around and it looks awful again--but then when it falls into position, that's one step closer to the end.
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