Last night I read the introduction to Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. Never read it before, and honestly, haven’t started yet, right now reading Arkansas by John Brandon (McSweeney’s Books). (At the LA Times Festival of Books realized I’d never read a single novel pressed by McSweeney’s—the kids manning the McSweeney’s booth were kind enough to sell me three novels for $10 bucks each (on a cover price $22).)
But so I read King’s introduction and was pleased to find myself in this passage:
“My approach to revision hasn’t changed much over the years. I know there are writers who do it as they go along, but my method of attack has always been to plunge in and go as fast as I can, keeping the edge of my narrative blade as sharp as possible by constant use, and trying to outrun the novelist’s most insidious enemy, which is doubt. Looking back prompts too many questions: How believable are my characters? How interesting is my story? How good is this really?”
Which the basic approach is the same as I discussed in my Accoutrements post, but the thing that really struck a nerve was the implied fear of going back to revise or revisit during a first draft.
And that’s me! I’ve become petrified of looking at finished pages! I lock them in the fire box and, even though the plan was to once weekly pick them up and type them into a computer, revising as I go… too scared. For largely the same reasons King described: don’t want to sit around overanalyzing. At least not yet. Not until the bulk is there.
Anyway, nice to find an affirmation… I’ve read King’s On Writing, and remember a similar relaxation/relief. Kind of a “there, there, it’s okay”.
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