Anyhoo, in short story terms, the initial work is with a hatchet. Hack away at a paragraph, letting one phrase or sentence survive that will hopefully suggest the whole. And after a few rounds with a machete, the remainder is roughly pushed around. Then it's firmed up, and then it's whittled (think of that guy from The Wire, working on miniature doll furniture whenever someone wasn't being nail-gunned). The changes become teeny-tiny, and eventually I read through once without making any change at all.
Then I walk away (today, it was to the Popcorn Maker) and take a break (today, featuring a crosaire crossword). And then re-read the story afresh. If it still holds, it's probably done.
Satisfaction :-)
3 comments:
Odd how your day echoed, mine, though I imagine you have more to show for your day. So my task was the crafting of a document from the work of many others and an attempt to create a single narative voice. As a process it was more like driving a train across a mountain range, where the gauge of the tracks changed at every bend , sometimes rock filled trucks suddenly attached themselves to the back of the train , usually on uphill stretches and, the really thrilling bit, the sudden absence of a bridge or two across some very deep chasms.....where the echoes came were in the involvement of a hatchet.....but I suspect the application of said hatchet was somewhat different!
I don't envy you that task: mediator, editor, miracle-worker...
....executioner!
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