Alexander came back to me some edits on something I wrote last week. I suspect he wants very much to treat me with kid gloves because he sees me as delicate (something that is partially my own fault, as I have endeavored to cover up my more bombastic characteristics). Part of me was all "he better make me feel bad" because that's the only way I'm going to learn. Then he did make me feel bad, and then I felt even worse for feeling bad in the first place. (I'm a mess, obviously.)
Like most writers, my problem is attachment. I get so attached to my work that I can't see it clearly. I'm like a someone in love: all I see is the piece, the good things, without any sense of reality.
Alexander beat me up somewhat badly (though this is nothing in comparison with some teachers, who actually want to make me cry. In public, is possible.)
Hi Eliza, don't get too worried about all this.
ReplyDeleteYou do have to stand back from what you have written for a short while before coming back to it, perhaps, dare I say, with a cold clinical outlook.
You know what makes a good essay or piece of writing but in the heat of the moment, it is difficult to see what you have written in a clear way.
You need to see it's shape, structure, content,argument, sentence construction, etc clearly. It's difficult to do that at first.
That is a good argument for getting your essays written on time, leaving enough time to edit it and not the night before.
I'm not suggesting for one moment that is the way you you do it , Eliza.
You have to be a little hard on yourself and disciplined about it though.
All the best,
Tony
Yeah, I know. Often, I don't time to be clincial about it. Ideally, I would put my work away for a while before coming back to it.
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