“WHEN IN DOUBT, LEAVE IT OUT”
“When in doubt, leave it out.”
I don’t remember my grandfather, but his sage advice (handed down to me by my Mother) has guided me through many complicated decisions. Lately, especially. I’m currently half-way through the first draft of my newest novel (praise the Lord!) and decided a few days ago to take a look over what I’d already written, just in case things needed a little fine-tuning before I plunged ahead.
Needless to say, they did. 😊
If you’ve never written before or are new to the whole “authoring” process, please allow me to be the first to enlighten you:
Editing is a good thing.
Did you catch that? Repeat with me, out loud this time:
EDITING IS A GOOD THING!
I’ve certainly needed to be reminded of this. “All good writing is re-writing” they say and surely the eraser and editor’s pencil (or backspace button) have been some of the author’s truest—albeit, oft despised—friends since mankind first invented them. However, when you’re reading through your own work with a critical eye it can sometimes be difficult to know when to cut something and when to keep it. When to ditch that scene or save that piece of dialogue. When to leave a character or toss them out like a bad apple. Yet, whenever I am in turmoil over the best course of action, my grandfather’s words inevitably float to the top.
“When in doubt, leave it out.”
Writing is extremely personal and I do not believe there is some kind of “one-size-fits-all” formula every author should use to be successful (see my blog post “Stay Authentic” for more on that subject). However, I do believe in being the best writer we can be…and sometimes that means learning how to say goodbye. When you come to a piece of writing and you feel something is wrong with it, yes, try and work it out, but, if you can’t work it out throw it out. Just because you wrote something doesn’t mean you have to keep it.
Let’s repeat that one together:
“JUST BECAUSE WE WROTE IT DOESN’T MEAN WE SHOULD KEEP IT!”
It’s funny how we writers can almost develop a guilt complex over editing: as if to discard anything we wrote—no matter how trivial—is something on par with abandoning a beloved child to the ash heap (a touch dramatic, but I am a novelist 😉). Yet, if we read our own work and find ourselves falling asleep, what makes us think anyone else will be able to stay awake? And why should they? What is it about what we put our pen (or laptop) to that we hope people take with them when they walk away? What do we want them to be thinking? To be feeling? Is that what we think and feel when we read our won work? If not, maybe it’s time for the ash heap.
I once asked the brilliant artist, Mitchell Tolle, how he knew when a painting he was working on was finished. His words have remained a standard of completion for me ever since.
“You know you’re finished,” he instructed, “when you’ve said everything you meant to say.”
So what are we as writers trying to say…and have we said it well? Is the color of this character’s bedroom or the specific brand name of that lady’s perfume essential for the progression of the story? Or, as it was in my case, is that long conversation around the coffee table involving six different people the best choice or could the same information be shared more organically as the plot unfolded (the latter choice definitely won out)? Details, dialogue, descriptions…they all exist for one reason and one reason only: to serve the story. And the story exists for one reason and one reason alone.
To say what we need to say.
No more.
No less.
Whether that’s a five-hundred page epic or a ten page booklet, every extra word is just that: extra. So, whether in writing or in life, if you find yourself pressed up against something you’re just not sure whether to keep or discard, my advice for you is to take my Grandfather’s:
“When in doubt, leave it out.”
LIVE EPIC,
CHRISTIS JOY
