The Writing Process

“One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.”Jack Kerouac

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Words come and go.

Fits and starts they flow.

That won't work.

I don't do rhyming.

Thoughts feel real only when they are

In the air, on the page,

A R T I C U L A T E D.

Tedium for those in earshot or reading.

Unless I'm careful.

Careful is exhausting.

Careful means edits.

Relentlessly killing words, phrases, anything vaguely stinky.

I need to lose language you don't need.

Wait.

I've drifted from singular into plural.

Edit for grammar.

Lose language you don't need.

Ick.  Edit for clunkiness.

Lose unneeded language.

Edit for dullness.

Say what's necessary.

Better, but is it best?  Try on...

Necessary words only.

Or shorter still.

Say less.

Maybe I mean shut up.

Shhhhh.

Uh oh.  I've fallen into a Woody Allen movie. Dianne Weist saying to John Cusack, "Don't Speak!"

Truly, a Woody Allen flick is the last place I want to be.

What am I trying to say again? I should probably check my phone. Maybe I'll be inspired.

Is writing challenging? Clearly, it's not.

Though writing well is something else entirely.

Thankfully, the doorbell rings, and my search for a distraction is complete.

Relief and self-loathing mix, and I decide to try again some other time.

Maybe tomorrow.