One of the best pieces of writing advice I have ever received was from an English teacher. She told me, “Take your poem, divide it in two, and then divide it in two again. That is your poem.”
Be succinct. Be concise.The first draft is never as brilliant as one hopes it is. Only after painful editing does the poem (or any other piece of writing) become the poem is was meant to be.
What is the best piece of writing advice that you have ever received? What has been your experience with ruthless editing? Post a comment (the link is below).
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I agree wholeheartedly. You need to be absolutely ruthless with your writing and your ego (because we writers are prone to think it’s all great, or all rubbish). The reason a writer like Hemingway is so famous is because his writing is so concise, so immediate, it reads like a punch to the gut.
I’m not much of a poet, but the best poem I ever wrote was initially 3 pages long, and I reduced it to six lines.
I don’t recall much advice on writing, though my B.A. had an emphasis in creative writing. I heard once from a professor at WKU to write every day. With people and life and expressways flashing around it is a task for me to sit down and write every day. What I do though is ensure I am doing something along those lines, small edits and even if that is much, at least read for an hour or more. But all the life flashes are what makes my writing mine.
@ David, Three pages to six lines definitely sounds like ruthless editing! You are dead right about Hemingway. I often think of some of his concise lines as inspiration. Are there any lines that stand out to you as great examples of succinct writing?
@ Seth, That is great advice. “Writing” does not always need to be pen to paper fleshing out new thoughts. To me writing can include research, quality reading, and editing… that is as long as it always leads back to the pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard).
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