Writing is painful to meWinston Churchill used to categorize his drafts into Provisional Semi-Final, Provisional Final, Almost Final, Final, and Subject to Full Freedom of Proof Correction. (He also arranged his speeches into verse to create that oratorical flair we remember him for.) P.G. Wodehouse would tack his pages on the wall, but they could only hang straight if he had written something amusing on them. It took me three agonizing weeks to write this website introduction, and I'm only publishing this because I gave myself a deadline.
But, I think, to most people writing is painful. It's hard work to think of something worthwhile to record and then be able to express that thought. It takes practice, and revision, and practice, and editing, and practice. It takes Semi-Finals and Finals and Almost Finals and Subject to Full Freedom of Proof Correction. It takes manipulating your compulsion to have things hung straight on a wall. It takes forced deadlines. It takes instruction from those who understand. That is why I have a job. That is why I teach. Together, we will work through the pain. |