Hurry! Only Ten Minutes!

It's funny to think on the merit of pushing words into time. Free writing, to my mind, is writing without thinking much, what is often called stream-of-consciousness or some such. And it seems to have value in helping to get words on page. It is a trick of writers I guess, often used in writing classes. In this case I thought I'd press such a thing into 10 minutes.

But today I am slowing down a bit. As mused before, what might happen if I took my time, wrote as the words came, but gave them time to develop? A good friend prefers to write exactly what he wants to say so he doesn't have to revisit. He has been quite successful so who am I to question? Another man I knew said the best writing is re-writing. You get nothing worth reading if you do not edit it well.

On this point I have thought for awhile that if I am to produce better value it will need help from a skilled editor. Just a second set of eyes is very valuable.

Two years ago I had the privilege of being in a reading group for an excellent writer, Nancy Pearcey. It was a real joy and I learned a great deal. Nancy has co-written the major title How Now Shall We Live and has written several other books of note. She is a gifted teacher. I was surprised to learn she had several reading groups, perhaps 8-10 and they were selected for variety so she had input from all kinds of people. I am sure it added profound value to the book.

In addition to her long years of experience, her education and gifts, her diligent work and all of these reading groups, she still relied heavily on editors and it was over a year from final submission to publishing date.

So the point I guess is that writing of great value requires extensive and strategic process. And input of others' skill and perspective is essential. This is a good lesson for me in life, and in writing!