There’s a myth of the talented writer–really, of any artist–who produces brilliant work on the first try, maybe over a few sleepless days or weeks.
She brings that outpouring to the public, which anoints her as a new talent.
No book reviews discuss the two or three unpublished novels that usually preceed the “first novels.”
The myth is that real writers don’t need editors or editing. They barely revise.
The myth has religious roots. According to it, beautiful language and insights come to us by inspiration, a word related to breathing. If you’re truly good, says the myth, you’ll breathe in your life and breathe out art. Like Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, who claimed to have translated a buried book on golden plates, we transcribe voices or discover complete works within ourselves. Joseph Smith didn’t need an editor or editing, and neither did Moses.
It’s true that when you write, you experience magical moments when the words and insights come fast, seemingly from nowhere. Those heady times keep you going. You feel in touch with your true self. Why would you want or need to second-guess yourself or ask someone else to change what you produced when you felt most alive and authentic?
The reason is that, oddly, it takes skill and practice to be yourself on the page.
As a reporter, I’ve interviewed Nobel Prize winners and experts who talk to the public every day. Even people who are skilled at presenting their ideas repeat themselves and make grammatical errors. They say things that don’t make sense and skip necessary details and wander off into tangents and use the wrong word or terms their audience won’t understand. They misrepresent even their emotions: they may sound cold when they feel tender, angry when they feel detached, and false and sentimental when they feel passionate.
That’s why a good journalist picks quotes carefully.
As a writer, you owe yourself the same consideration. Of all the words you put down on paper, you need to pick the best, most revealing ones.
You need to learn when you aren’t making sense or are skipping necessary details or wandering off.
You need to revise.
Unless you are Moses, your finest words will not come to you the first time you listen.