A hippie posting on revision.

If you don't already know it, life is cyclic. Decay turns into grass, grass returns to decay. The patterns of the moon, the tides, all cyclic. Thought, and therefore, art is cyclic too. When we create something, the piece is never finished. Published writers (or, in my case, published writers thanks to underfunded college lit magazines) struggle between the pleasure of seeing their work in print and anxiety because their piece could use a tweak or two. Truly, no work is ever complete, even after it is sold and framed. Viewers and readers apply what they already know and the piece transforms over and over again (so pomo).

However, my point here isn't to argue that nothing is ever done so why keep doing it. No, I am definitely of the-more-you-stare-at-it-the-better-it-gets-camp. And, speaking of, Fulwiler definitely gets it. Off the bat, Fulwiler identifies one of my greatest pet peeves- when people write what they are going to do in a paper before doing it. Editing my friends' work in college, I often crossed off the first four sentences of their papers. The thesis was all they needed. Where the heck does this cumbersome habit come from? Like Fulwiler mentions, it is most likely the love child of writing on the run rather than writing in a bubble bath followed by a cold shower.

Fulwiler also mentions the "story embedded in a story" conundrum, or rather, a blessing in disguise if you will. Although it can be terribly hard to switch one's focus, sometimes the best ideas for writing appear in the process of writing something else. I'd argue that this is because people simply don't put pen to paper enough. When they finally do settle in to write, they find that they have buschels of stories yearning to see the light of day. Virginia Woolf would be tickled. But, in all seriousness, there have been dire occasions, midnight cram sessions, where yours truly suddenly discovered an even better paper waiting in the wings. There was nothing to be done but embrace the little sprout and go with it. Revision! ("Tradition!")

Across the board, my best writing has been the result of hours of brainstorming, outlining, free writing, and turning in a "final" draft...only to get a not so brilliant grade and a paper covered in notes. Fortunately, those teachers and professors gave me the opportunity to work with them and rewrite (fully rewrite...no shortcuts) my heart out. Not only was the paper improved, but I learned. And, honestly, isn't that the dog gone point?

Now...I better go back and revise this posting. (I actually did.)