{"id":82,"date":"2009-10-06T14:02:31","date_gmt":"2009-10-06T18:02:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.sherryquanlee.com\/?p=82"},"modified":"2009-10-06T14:02:43","modified_gmt":"2009-10-06T18:02:43","slug":"revision-a-desperate-need-a-quick-fix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.sherryquanlee.com\/?p=82","title":{"rendered":"Revision: a desperate need, a quick fix"},"content":{"rendered":"

REVISION: a desperate need, a quick fix<\/span><\/h2>\n

There\u2019s so much about writing that I like, but revision reveals my zeal for a finished product. I am goal oriented. Give me a job with a deadline. Zoom. I focus. No, I\u2019m not a perfectionist. I\u2019m a runner. I care more about progression, then all I\u2019s dotted. Although, I\u2019m not a slob. I just honor the finish line more than any intricate steps it takes to get there. KISS, that\u2019s an old acronym from the 70s. Keep it simple stupid.<\/p>\n

Sometimes I start revising before a poem is even done. Choosing a better sounding word here or there, one with more punch or a solemn one. Changing line breaks. Adding or subtracting periods, question marks, semicolons. I love love love punctuation! Usually a poem comes quickly. Those in the middle of the night, or while driving, or taking a bath, or after an argument, after loving. If I\u2019m lucky enough to get it typed and printed before I\u2019ve forgotten the words, I become obsessed, mad woman reading aloud, pacing, making changes as I read and pace. Other times, I\u2019m making changes before the first draft is printed. Computers are great for the ease of revising. A prose piece\/chunks cut and pasted, cut and deleted, words moved around. Poems\/indented, white space lengthened. Oh, the lovely chaos of it all and I\u2019m talking in the moment. Minutes, not days or months though that can happen too, but that\u2019s for bigger projects, for books.<\/p>\n

Bookmaking\/days and weeks and months are for writing chapters or poems. Writing\/gathering. Then, one day, the chaos of sequencing, of re-arranging chapters or poems, re-visiting theme to see if there is one. Delicious frenzy! But, I have a list, a system, methodology. A way to get from start to finish, quickly. It\u2019s a simple matter of putting the puzzle together. I have a deadline, there\u2019s a publisher waiting, or a reader, even if that reader is only me.<\/p>\n

Myself, I am always in re-vision. It\u2019s not painful. It used to be a whirlwind, a hurricane, a desperate need, a quick fix to a short term goal of I\u2019m better, I\u2019m okay. More make-up, cute shoes, lots of hair on my head. A college degree. Another one. A book. A boyfriend or two, a husband or two or three, girlfriends. Children. Grandchildren.<\/p>\n

Today, self-revision re\/vision, revising is subtle, it\u2019s mostly quiet. It\u2019s saying goodbye to need. Saying hello to love, love, love, even if it\u2019s only me loving me. It\u2019s KISS, KISS. Keep it simple. Love everyone you can muster up the courage to love, including yourself.<\/p>\n

But, don\u2019t get rid of the black boots, the high heel shoes, the tennies, the little black dress or the shirts and vests. Write. But, keep it simple. You can because you\u2019ve done the work. You know you are not ugly or dumb\u2014that\u2019s history, something to do with genocide, with lynchings and shootings, and segregation.<\/p>\n

I have my own rules now, for writing, for life. I\u2019m not going to re\/vision, revise this blog entry. It is what it is. I\u2019m going to keep it simple. I am going to choose deadline (I\u2019ve just consumed my lunch)<\/p>\n

over trying to make something beautiful when it already is beautiful.<\/p>\n

(Okay, I\u2019ve tweaked a little, but not much.)<\/p>\n

Sherry Quan Lee
\nOctober 6, 2009<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

REVISION: a desperate need, a quick fix There\u2019s so much about writing that I like, but revision reveals my zeal for a finished product. I am goal oriented. Give me a job with a deadline. Zoom. I focus. No, I\u2019m not a perfectionist. I\u2019m a runner. I care more about …<\/p>\n

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