🚀 go-pugleaf

Fred Welden says:

>>"What you want
>>to do, in my arrogant opinion, is to splat down what you think you want
>>to say on the page as close to all-at-once as you can manage...


Alan_Barclay@mindlink.bc.ca (Alan Barclay) writes:

>>In _my_ arrogant opinion, what a one is better off doing is learning to
>>write clearly the first time.  Then you don't have to rewrite half as much.

echyatt@eos.ncsu.edu (EDWARD CRAIG HYATT) writes:

>I don't agree that writing perfect copy the first time is a sort
>of nirvana that every writer tries to reach.   
>
>I think the "splat it down" vs. "review each sentence" question is
>a matter of personal style.  If you prefer to make a rough pass and
>dump your thoughts on paper for later editing, that doesn't make you
>less skillful than a writer who produces perfect copy the first time
>(all things being equal).  The dump-and-review writer takes time to
>revise the work as a whole, and the sentence-by-sentence writer takes
>time to revise each sentence.

You're right that it's a matter of style.  But for those
of us who are unable to articulate ourselves perfectly
at first blush (which I suspect covers most of us here),
it is probably better to learn how to get a rough cut
down on paper first, a version that captures the basic
emotions and inspirations for the piece.  It has been
a struggle for me to learn this, because I tend to be
somewhat obsessive about language.  I find that the
stuff I can get down on paper quickly has a much more
truthful ring to it.  When I agonize over word choice
as I write a first draft, I often get caught up in
editing and re-editing  a few sentences, and by the
second or third page am completely demoralized.  For
anyone who has these problems, I'd recommend trying to
supress your editorial impulses until you're mostly
through your first cut.  It's helped me, in any case.

>I think the style you choose has to do with how you think, and you should
>use whatever helps you write most effectively.

Absolutely.

				Robert.