I love to do anything that involves making things. One of my favourite things, after writing, is baking.
It was while making bread that something struck me about the process of letting the dough rise. There's a brief amount of time where you have to take a step back to let the ingredients do their job before you can finish the loaf.
It's the same for writing.
The word mixture you've created needs time to rest. You need time to think about what you the final product to look like. We all know the importance of stepping back from your work. There might be lots of changes you know need making. Scenes that need trimming. That character who might seem a little bit flat.
Take a step back.
Spending time away from your story, even if it's just a day, can help you to see what work needs doing.
Do you let your manuscripts rest before edits?
I call it gestating (or maybe pupating) because it's so crucial to the final story's development
ReplyDeleteThis is excellent advice. I didn't see the value of it at first, until my advisor in my grad program told me the same thing. To keep up the habit of writing every day, I thought that meant working on the same manuscript. But I find that I need time away to gather more ideas or to see the pages from a different perspective.
ReplyDeletegreat post!
ReplyDeleteI love baking after writing too! Great analogy! Definitely need to let my story breathe a bit before revisions.
ReplyDelete