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Letter 17: April 28, 2008
Here in Southern California it's unseasonably hot, thanks to the Santa Ana winds. Being driven along the 210 freeway this evening, I had the chance to look up at a hillside where a dangerous brushfire was blazing.
Except that it wasn't. It was quietly smoking, but from my viewpoint far below there was no blaze. Perhaps there were flames down in a canyon, I didn't know.
In the few minutes I had, I saw no fewer than five aircraft dumping water on the fire site. For long seconds I could watch the white stream reach down to the ground. Then the whole ridge would burst out in beautiful pink flame for a few moments. And then it would settle down to nothing but white smoke again.
I don't know what was going on, and I'm absolutely sure the firefighters did. But it made me think, and what I thought was that sometimes a problem only flares up when you try to fix it. That sometimes writers can make situations difficult for themselves by treating them as though they were difficult.
What do I mean by "sometimes"? Well, let's talk about diversity.
You've heard me say that the first draft is inevitably embarrassing trash and that professional writers are the people who know to keep trudging through that. Finishing the first draft is the only way to get to the rewriting stage, unless you are Mozart.
You probably don't want to be Mozart, so don't expect to do it his way.
But listen to what happened to me this week. On Tuesday I was speaking with a successful career Hollywood writer who agreed with all of the above. This writer says that one should do no rewriting at all until the awful first draft is complete, because otherwise it will never be completed.
Then on Friday I was talking with another successful career Hollywood writer. That writer said that the first draft was the best part of writing, was a pure experience, was the most enthusiastic of a writer's actions.
So there are different views and, in fact, different experiences.
I suppose this just proves that writers are human and therefore diverse.
On Thursday I was coaching a client who had just finished a book. For some reason I was talking about the White Bull - the terrifying emptiness of the blank paper (or screen) on which you are supposed to create something beautiful and clever that is worthy of other people's time.
And I was wrong. My client said the experience of starting this book had been quite unlike that. The empty page had been inviting, had been a marvelous opportunity.
Different experiences. Human diversity.
So let me not tell you what creative writing is like for you. I'll mention what it is like for most people, but creativity is your way of making something new happen in the world, and your way is your way. Some marathon runners never find the famous Wall, and get to 26 miles before they know it.
Something you can try today: Don't assume a thing will be difficult until you do it. Not even if it was difficult the last time you did the same kind of thing. Maybe starting to write this book will be easy. Maybe finishing the first pass at this play will be easy. Let me know.
David
David Jung McGarva
+1 (818) 707 1871
Write me: david at todayiwrite dot com
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