The Invisible College Lesson Fifteen: Write and Repeat
May 28, 2017
Maya Angelou, renowned poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist, reflects on the grueling craft of revision. She rejects the myth of effortless talent. Short scenes cover her daily routine, repeated drafts, sharpening language, and knowing when to stop.
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Daily Write, Then Revise Ruthlessly
- Read what you wrote each day and cut ruthlessly to keep only what works.
- Expect to save a small portion of a large morning output and discard the rest.
Iteration Is The Real Work
- Repetition and iteration are the core of real writing, not daydreaming.
- Great work often emerges from doing the same passage many times until it sings.
Write Many Drafts For Precision
- Rewrite lines multiple times until they feel exactly right; expect many drafts for poems and pages.
- Aim to produce several pages to yield one page you truly like.