I’ve been dabbling in writing now for about eight years. (O.M.G. I didn’t realize that.) But I’m chalking it up to learning. I had my son in 2006, so he was three or four when I finally allowed myself to try my hand at it. I don’t know what I was thinking. Free time did not exist.

Anyway in my excitement, I took some online classes submitted passages for critique and realized I needed work. A lot of it. Taking those classes sort of crushed the creative side of me. All I could focus on were my technical flaws: passive voice, bad grammar, disorganized plot lines, etc…

Ugggh..then add in things like theme and symbolism and I was truly discouraged. What theme, I’d think? This is about a guy who’s in a crappy situation and needs to get out of it. Voila, that’s it!

In turn, I bought a lot of books on the craft of writing. Oh yes, we must learn as much as we can, the magic bullet resides inside one of them. One of these books contains just the right phrasing or explanation that will resonate with me and then I will finally get it!

Uhmmm..no, not really. It doesn’t work like that.

I realize now that all that technical stuff comes way waAAY WAAAAY later during the revision or rewriting process. (At least it does for me.)

I should mention that I belong to a writer’s critique group and it’s been invaluable. The meetings are held once a month and sometimes I submit something most times I give feedback to others. It is immensely helpful to read other people’s work. It helps you to see editorial changes you may need to make in your own writing. (This is the craft side of things)

See post for “Back in the Saddle.”

So 2018 is going to be the year of the “creative revision.” My goal is to not start anything new but to finish the stories I’ve started, (the creative part of creative revision), and then revise them. Actually sit down and use all the editing tools I’ve learned to strengthen the stories.

We’ll see how it goes. Wish me luck. 😉