CIEL is about culture. But not just the "star-fucking-who's-great, what's-great, where-to-go and what-to-do" culture. It's about the process of creating culture. When I founded Salon CIEL,my idea was to give artists a chance to discuss their process. Through giving a formal talk, many artists found that they learned more about themselves - in other words, the process of articulation was part of the process. I did an experiment today that taught me about my own writing process. Earlier this week, I had finished a story called 'The Conversation.' It weighed in at almost 3,900 words and I was pretty happy with it. But in researching lit mags and places to submit I saw that many publications had a 3,000 word cut off. Could I do it? "Kill your darlings," my first writing teacher, Sandy Boucher (the now famous writer on women and Buddhism) taught us. Cut your favorite lines, your most precious beloved words and thoughts. Because a good writer is ruthless. Absolutely. Well, I'm here to say, I DID IT! The story, now 1,000 words lighter at 2,971 is tighter than tight and although I sacrificed some of my 'darlings' I am really happy with it. I'll keep you posted on whether my experiment pays off.
Technorati Tags: Authors, creative process, Fiction, Writers
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