Well, an editor would say that, wouldn't they? ;-)

Re balling up sheets of paper and throwing them in the wastebasket, there was an entire montage of movie scenes like that in a tribute to screenwriters shown during the last Oscars show. You're right -- was every word on the page garbage?

I was quite pleased that they included a tribute to screenwriters in the first place. I know some of them and almost without exception they complain that they are about the least respected people in Hollywood. There is even an old joke about a starlet so dumb she slept with the screenwriter.


>A friend once told me that he'd heard of an American publishing editor saying to an author: "Listen, son; a book isn't written - it's EDITED!"
>
>One of the joys of having a WP nowadays is that you can just write and write and have not a care for anachronisms, grammar, spelling, order, etc., as you can always revisit it. When I write i push notes at the end of the text as thoughts and ideas come to me. It's so easy to swap order of paragraphs, rip sentences out of one para and place in another. Compare that with the "traditional" fussy writer who was forever ripping the paper out of teh typewriter, screwing it up in disgust and throwing it in the waste paper basket (An affectation for film I believe, for who wouldn't keep that paper for reference when redrafting it?).
>
>>It's hard to do though. Yet, easier (during the initial 'get it all out' phase) too. The other methods had me correcting and rewording over and over again. I was spending hours and hours on a couple of paragraphs. Then after writing another page, I would go back to the beginning and change it again. Now I just put it all down, and even if it is incorrect in tense, grammar, spelling, or anything, I keep going. I force myself not to look back because I would just change it everytime. I figure after 40 edits (or more) after it is all written out it may be closer to right. At least I'll have the story out even if doesn't make sense yet :o)
>>
>>
>>
>>>Hi Tracy,
>>>
>>>I think that writer had it right. It is better to go with the creative flow and then when you have time fix the fundamentals. I heard a writer say that it was often the 4th or 5th revision that got it just right.
>>>
>>>This reminds me of one my sons when in middle school. He had his first opinion paper to write for English. He had waited till the last minute and as the night went on he became more and more frustrated. I was puzzled as I knew it only needed to be a couple of pages. It turned out that he was trying to write the paper perfectly the very first time. I explained to him about writing it and then revising it. He exclaimed that he had never thought of that.
>>>
>>>Tim