Writing Treatise Short I: Writing Versus writing and the Ego Versus the Work
Writing Treatise Short I: Writing Versus writing and the Ego Versus the Work
Writing at the surface seems easy. It is what we do. Yet, it is easy to fall under the delusion of
writing well. Everyone writes? How hard can it be? Society is filled with writing and different types of
writing. The key is writing well. This is the difference between writing and Writing with a capitol W. It is
easy to put words on paper. Like so it is done. This is putting on paper. Not, thinking about what is being
written. Often beginning writers just put words without thinking. A belief exits which the words serve
simply as a transport to deliver what happens in a story as fast as possible to the audience. This is not
good writing. It is not respecting word, character, setting, event, world, and audience as much as the
story itself. Taking time to think on the words chosen, how they are shaped, the purpose of flow and
decision. I catch many a developing writer at first throwing words on paper. This is what a draft is. There
is a time to take a step back and observe the draft. There will be many drafts, though less with
experience and time. Thinking and rewriting the work is important. Drafting is part of process. Our muse
strikes, we get things down, and then we get to the real work. It is ok to draft and it is ok to rewrite.
Rewriting: Rewriting is everything. It is not just the edit to spruce things up. It is serious thinking
of your decisions of parts or the whole work. Again, it’s why drafts exist. If you never think of the words
on paper, then how is it supposed to be anything? It is ok to rewrite. Rewriting is part of your
responsibility as an author. It is so easy to get stuck on those words on the page. However, nowadays; it
is very easy to rewrite pages. This is part of learning to let go, part of learning with critique. It is ok to let
go. Writing is not easy. It is a lot of hard work. Part of that work is rewriting. The words are not set in
stone until published and that is why it is best to rewrite before then. Letting go is part of letting go of
the ego, detaching the self from the work. It is not the ideas in the rewrite which are usually in scrutiny.
It is the mechanics of the writing itself. By mechanics I do not mean sentence structure and grammar,
but I mean performance of sentence function, flow, paragraph purpose, bad habits, presentation of
ideas, dialogue, actions, etc.
Yes, the critique after we wrote a draft or three can seem disheartening, but you just did it, and
can do it again. At the end of the day, simply more key strokes. You have learned of an mechanical issue
you didn’t see or know about, and now can change it.
Back to that concept in rhetoric of everything serving a point: it is easy when we put words on
the page to lose the point of the words on the page. That is why the stepping back and thinking of what
we wrote under that muse induced heatstroke is important. Weird things happen when we write and it
often may not contribute to the work as a whole. So fear not the rewrite or the critique that leads to
rewrite friends, all is as it should be.
There are two layers to writing in the eyes of audience. We are rarely told when we share a
story with friends and family that a story is bad unless we have a severe bluntly honest person in our
midst or someone trained vigorously in writing *coughs.* Part of it is the defense of friendship and love.
Part if the lack of knowledge. However, there is an even greater aspect to this. People simply like stories.
They will read and latch ignoring all other issues for that story. The reviews of most audience cling to the
story instead of the mechanics. On one hand this a great defense of the work when it gets thrown into
the Nile. On the other it does not make up for lack of skill set and improving one’s work getting a tiptoe
out of the now flooded market. This causes problems tied to the ego. It feeds ego. We are told again
and again our story is good, and the story might be good.
Simply, our writing mechanics can be off. One can have a wonderful story and have the worst
writing mechanics in the world which hurts the story. On the other hand, one can have near perfect
writing mechanics and fail in the story department. Usually the success of both goes together. It is
usually the writing mechanics we all lack in, in one way or another, needing improvement. This is again
why we learn and grow. We have the story to tell and show, but our skill set in delivering it is what lacks.
This is why critique is ok, why the rewriting is definitely ok. People who are not trained simply do not
pick up on mechanics. We buy books, reading as consumers. There is caution to this. People are good at
picking up story related issues. Albeit, we struggle to learn mechanics. Our stories must be grounded
well as audience can sniff story issues out fast. So, learning your story and drafting through your story is
important. Both mechanics and the story must be taken care of respectfully hand in hand.
As writers we all have egos. We spend time on what we write. It takes a lot of time. There is
always learning room as we learn and grow with our craft. We learn about ourselves and our world
when we take the step back. We simply have to take that step back. Why we must separate from the
ego. It is nice to feel good and shitty to feel shitty. Yet, as human beings we have the power to transform
our experiences and emotions as we grow and understand them. When we learn our work is just a work,
words on the page, than the real work and transformation can begin. The real story comes to life
through our mechanics free of the ego shinning for all to see. When the heart of a story is unclouded by
ego, then its true power reveals itself to people generation to generation. That is up to you and that
great demon called self you must defeat.
