"You can't go wrong throwing away, there's much to be said for throwing away. You will lose only what you do not need, only what will poison your writing by holding on to it, and you will gain power, focus, control and confidence, to name a few." -Gordon Lish
PS (from Meg Pokrass). Such interesting advice. I find this hard to do. To some degree, I try to follow this. For me, the trick is to essentially “throw stuff away”, yet keep my earliest drafts in another file, where I can look back…
Question for writers: How do you approach this aspect of revision? Do you hold on to early drafts, or do you literally throw things away? Would be interesting to start a discussion here…
Gordon Lish is an American writer. As a literary editor, he championed many American authors, particularly Raymond Carver, Barry Hannah, Amy Hempel, Rick Bass, and Richard Ford.Gordon Lish is an American writer. As a literary editor, he championed many American authors, particularly Raymond Carver, Barry Hannah, Amy Hempel, Rick Bass, and Richard Ford.
Thank you to Tetman Callis
I don’t keep every draft but I’m going to start using one doc for every draft. Just in case. I think heavy cuts are great, but, honestly, when I hesitate to cut a particular passage, I know it’s probably the one that most needs to go. I’m always asking myself why this particular sentence needs to stay. Sometimes they’re just in the wrong spot. Sometimes the sentence is just showing me something I need to remember as I write. Once the draft is done, I can strike it.
I keep all of my drafts and revisions as I don't believe that there are any wasted words. I have discovered wonderful threads to pull on from unpolished or discarded drafts that end up becoming something else. Something new. That said, I don't think we should hold previous drafts or words in our fists, but rather let the words sift through our fingers like grains of sand - over and over again - noticing how they fall, the random patterns they make, the way they refract the light. Don't throw away - be willing to let go.