My final portfolio is due on Tuesday. On that day (or prior to it if I finish) I will be submitting my poem and my prose for a whopping 30% of my grade. That has the potential to take my 96% down to a failing grade…
Not that I’m worried about that. No, I’m fairly certain I’m going to pass this class only because I would pretty much have to submit a blank page in order to fail.
But that’s a lot of stress to add to the mind of any writer (I think we all suffer from the “not-good-enough” syndrome).
So for the last few days, I have been editing my poem, “The Beggar on the Bike” and my short magical realism piece, “The Unwanted Guest”.
And it hurts.
Having to rework a piece that you love (or you think is perfect) is much akin to deciding which one of your children you are going to leave behind at the theme park (not that I have ever done that… on purpose… twice).
***SIDE NOTE*** I really wanted to find a photo of a crying kid left all alone to put into this part right here, so I did a search... bad idea... so many improper things.. what the &$*@ is wrong with you internet?????
Thankfully for me, I don’t think mine are perfect (children or the pieces I am working on). Not that it makes the editing any easier, because as I mentioned above… it’s going to be graded.
But I’ve been staring at them for the entire morning, and I needed a break, and I’m already on my third cup of coffee, and I might be losing my sanity…
Who am I kidding? My sanity has been gone for years…
But anywho…
All that was just to say the reason for this update on my college life was more about the fact I needed to write something I wasn’t going to be judged on… even though I can feel your judging eyes judging me while you sit there and think, “Judgy, judgy, judgy things.”
And thus concludes my moment of off-track betting bantering.
So, back to work for me. If you need me, I’ll be the guy skipping along trying to convince myself that editing is fun.
Thoughts from the Front 
There’s where you and I differ when it comes to writing. I’ll edit the hell out of my pieces, then edit them again, and again, and again until they’re screaming for mercy. But — like you — I do need to look away from them once in awhile so that I don’t edit them into something completely different (it’s been known to happen). Also, it’s hard to spot grammar mistakes in pieces that you’re very familiar with. Someone suggested reading them backwards one sentence at a time. Or reading them out loud. I prefer the latter.
You can do it!
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Re-writing them into something different is highly plausible… Like, I can take 1500 words and turn it into zero words in one keystroke (it’s happened). Hehe. And reading out loud is the way to go, I agree.
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That’s what the undo key is for. ^_^ Also, backups. I used to have a file for things I liked in my stories but couldn’t keep because the just didn’t work but were too good to delete, so I figured I’d use them later in different stories.
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I actually have an entire Scrivener file dedicated to things I have written that I have edited out, storing those up for another story or a ‘patch quilt’. Now that would be an interesting anthology. A patch quilt of stories tidbits, thrown together. Hrm…
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Well, if you’re at 96 I don’t think it’s likely you’ll get to a failing grade. I sympathize though. It’s pretty difficult to work within the confines of what’s dictated as ‘correct’ when you want to be creative, and sometimes can affect the work in a way that you don’t really think is best. Good luck in any case. Hope you will share the finished product.
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Thanks, and absolutely. The final product and the grade… because as my children like to say (and not do), “Sharing is caring.” (it’s also a great way to bolster a person’s ego (or destroy it)).
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Based on your writng, I’ve had the pleasure to ead – you will be fine! Have to agree, however, deadlines and grades do staunch cretivity. And as for editing, sometimes you can do too much. Trust your instincts, follow the guidelines (per professor) and go with it. My hats off to anyone back in school! @sheilamgood at Cow Pasture Chronicles
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Thanks for those words of encouragement. And hats off indeed. 😀
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And that’s why I chose science. I couldn’t tolerate some people saying my creations were not good enough. Who the hell are they to say if things are good or not?!? 😀
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True.
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