Before I keep moving along with this train of thought I started last week (and it is a train, trust me), I figured I’d pause on this cold and icy Monday evening to share some of the best unsolicited and unheeded advice I’ve been given in the past year or so. It comes from a common source of wisdom in my life, my good friend Jeff. Not too long ago, he said this to me:
“Don’t worry about writing a book from scratch. Edit the book you’ve already written.”
I can’t recall the exact context or circumstances, but the words have been ringing in my ears for months. They keep coming back to me every time I sit down and write something because everything I write is another part of another chapter in this book that I’ve been inadvertently (and advertently?) authoring. This writing happens on loose sheets of paper, in notebooks, on the internet, in email, and even in texts. I am building a series of thoughts and ideas, elaborating on them, and weaving a tapestry that, although incoherent at first glance, will become a work that I can share. And I will share.
For me, it’s writing, but for you it is something else. Well, maybe it is writing, too, but it doesn’t have to be. You are producing a work of art in everything you do. What are you creating? And will you share it with the world?
Heed the advice: edit what you have already written. Chance are, you are much farther along than you realize. For my part, the editing has begun.
Now I just need a proofreader…
Illuminate Possibilities 