Sunday, January 22, 2012

How Small Is Small?


What does War & Peace and Harry Potter have in common?  Words.  Lots of them.  Thousands in fact.  In both cases the end result are epic novels containing a plethora of words to convey the author's dream story.  Each word artfully placed to draw the reader into another place and time until the author releases them with a satisfactory conclusion.

But do you really think those stories started out that way?

First drafts are called that for a reason.  It gives  the writer a chance to not hold back.  To let their creativity flow onto paper or screen until there are huge boulders of story line lying around.  Writers, especially beginner writers, should not attempt to polish that first draft at the same time they are writing it.  The chipping away and culling of unnecessary words will come later.  First drafts are simply a time for unleashing your imagination and watching where it takes you.




Next comes the revisions and rewrites.  A writer begins to chip away and polish that first draft into something more concrete.  Shaping and rearranging those words until a sharper vision of that writer's dream comes into focus.  They smooth the edges of the story line and invite others to help in the process.  This is done with the knowledge that it will take time to uncover the final publishable product.  



Picture book writers don't have the luxury of dealing with boulders for long.  The constraints of writing for a younger audience demands that we create great works of art with the least words possible.  These pebbles of creation must carry our dreams onto paper in such a way as to leave our mark on the reader's minds long after the story is finished.  This takes time.  Often time we don't really have.  And yet we continue to drive ourselves to chip away, always polishing our work until one day we stop.  We realize that to polish it any more would make our story so small that it might not survive on its own.  It's a delicate balance to determine how small is small.


Finally there comes that moment when all of our wishes, hopes, and dreams are carved onto those rocks.   We kiss them goodbye and send them out into the world for others to enjoy.  We think about the wonderful things that might be built with our pebbles of creation.  How the lives of our readers might be changed for a moment or even a life time for having read our words.  And sometimes we are pleasantly surprised with what others do with our polished rocks.


What great boulders will you craft into polished pebbles today?




6 comments:

  1. I love this. Maybe it's the fact that my grandfather and his brother were stonemasons, and my parents had a love of and an appreciation for the beauty in stone, but this particularly spoke to me. I will think of this as I polish the pebbles this week.

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    1. I came across the picture of those huge boulders lying in the sand last night. I thought about how smooth the surface must be and how long it took for the sea to chip away the unnecessary parts and polish them for others to discover. It takes time in nature so I should not be in a rush either. Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  2. Inspirational post Donna. Love your anologies to the stones. And great photos to demonstrate your points. Enjoyed this very much. - Pat

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  3. Well, Pat, I try! And I enjoy writing my daily posts so I'm sure that helps too!

    Thanks for stopping by...come back any time!

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  4. Lovely Post, and appropriate as we head into our 12x12in12 challenge. Thankyou Donna.

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    1. Thanks, Diane, for stopping by! Are you ready for February? I have my PB idea...just trying to find the time to write the story out!

      Come back any time!

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